UN's Climate Handbook Emphasizes Importance of 'Cold, Hard Facts' for a Liveable Future

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released six landmark reports totalling 10,000 pages prepared by more than 1,000 scientists over the last six years. The reports warn that deadly heatwaves, storms, and floods amplified by global warming could be a foretaste as planet-heating fossil fuels put a “liveable” future at risk. The IPCC reports emphasise the danger of “tipping points” – temperature thresholds in the climate system that could, once crossed, result in catastrophic and irreversible change. The world must also tackle methane, the second most important atmospheric pollutant after CO2, which comes from leaks in fossil fuel production and agriculture, as well as natural sources such as wetlands.