On February 2, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report called "Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis," that concludes with at least 90 percent confidence, that CO2 and other greenhouse gases from human activities constitute the main drivers of global warming since 1950. This is the strongest language used by the IPCC to date, compared to a confidence level of 66 to 90 percent in the 2001 IPCC report that human activities are the main force. About 2,500 scientists from more than 100 countries have worked to put the report together over the last six years. In releasing the report in Paris, scientists said that "evidence of global warming is ‘unequivocal' and human activities are the major factor driving the temperature rise," which prompted calls from world political and scientific leaders for immediate action to address global warming.
The IPPC release is the first of three major sections of the full IPCC report, which is the fourth put out by the international panel since its founding in 1988. A second portion, on the environmental and social effects of climate change, will be released in April, and a third section, on options to limit GHG emissions and mitigate global warming, is set for May. An overall summary of the three sections is due in November.
Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), recently tapped by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to head a proposed special committee on global warming (see separate story), issued a statement calling the IPCC report a "scientific smoking gun."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told reporters yesterday (2/6), when asked about the IPCC report, that "The majority of people in the House and Senate believe global warming is here, we know what it's caused by, and we need to do something about it. It's only this administration that doesn't want to do anything about it."
Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), said she planned to discuss the report with officials at the United Nations. The international community is "excited there are senators paying attention" to global warming, she said. Meanwhile, EPW Committee ranking member James Inhofe (R-OK) dismissed the IPCC findings and Democrats' push for emissions reductions as "alarmist."