Climate change could have “serious, pervasive, and irreversible” impacts on human society and nature, but that outcome is not yet assured, according to the leaked draft of the IPCC report that will background negotiations leading up to the 2015 climate summit in Paris.
“While the report warns of the dire consequences of the continued rise of GHGs [greenhouse gases], it also says the worst impacts can still be avoided,” Phillips reports. “It states that a combination of adaptation and substantial, sustained reductions in GHGs can limit climate change risks and reduce the costs and challenges of mitigation.”
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EU governments said the report should have contained “more substance that can help guide policy-makers,” while the U.S. wants language for readers who lack technical knowledge of climate issues. “What about drought? Cyclones? Wildfires? Policy-makers care deeply about extreme events,” American commenters wrote.
