Press Conference at the Launch of the IPCC Synthesis Report (Tivoli Conference Center, Lumbye Room) (REMARKS, Q&A) (with Mrs. Ban) (Nesirky)

[LIST OF POSTS ON THIS SITE]

HOW HUMANS CAUSE CLIMATE CHANGE

1. Humans burn fossil fuels and release carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. This causes the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration to rise. This process is explained in two related posts [LINK] [LINK] .
2. The more CO2 there is in the atmosphere, the more heat it can trap, and the more heat it traps, the warmer the surface of the earth gets. This is called climate sensitivity and it is the fundamental force that drives anthropogenic global warming as explained in these related posts [LINK] [LINK] .
3. A direct relationship that shows how surface temperature responds to fossil fuel emissions has been found by climate scientists. It is called the Transient Climate Response to Cumulative Emissions or TCRE for short. This strong proportionality leaves no doubt that human emissions are causing the observed warming of our planet as explained in these related posts [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] .
4. The TCRE relationship can be used to design climate mitigation actions humans can take to limit the amount of warming from our use of fossil fuels in the form of Climate Mitigation Pathways and Carbon Budgets such that we can actually set a target of how much warming we can tolerate and then dial in a reduced rate of emissions that will produce exactly that amount of warming and not more. This procedure is the foundation of all calls for climate action in the form of overhauling the world’s energy infrastructure away from fossil fuels to green and renewable sources such as solar and wind. The carbon budget is explained in a related post on this site [LINK] .
5. Climate mitigation action taken by us in time can save us from the horrors of sea level rise that, without climate action, could inundate places like Florida, Louisiana, Bangladesh, Pacific islands, and the Maldives. The effect of climate action on sea level rise is explained in two related posts [LINK] [LINK] .
6. It is also known that higher sea surface temperature causes stronger tropical cyclones such as the hurricanes of the North Atlantic and the Typhoons of the Pacific. Climate mitigation actions described above can also be used to reduce the destructiveness of extreme weather. Related posts [LINK] [LINK] .
7. Yet another horror of human caused global warming with the use of fossil fuels that can be prevented with the climate action described above is that some of the carbon pollution from our fossil fuels end up in the ocean and cause what scientists call “ocean acidification”. It is a widespread pollution problem that can cause mass extinction of species as explained in these related posts [LINK] [LINK] .
8. The horror of rising temperature, melting of ice sheets and glaciers, catastrophic sea level rise, and extreme weather that awaits us if we do not take climate action can be seen in prior interglacial events.  These interglacial events are described in two related posts [LINK] [LINK] .
9. Scientists at NASA have kindly provided a “How we Know” document in plain English that explains to non-scientists how scientists know that climate change is human caused and the very real possibilities of its tragic consequences [LINK] ..