Climate change ‘worse than first thought’ – Stern

The author of a key government report on climate change has said the situation is even worse than he previously thought.

Lord Nicolas Stern woke the world up to the threat of climate change when he produced the Stern Review three years ago.

However, he has now said he thinks that the risks are even more dire than he first thought.
Writing in New Scientist magazine, he said: “Since my colleagues and I published the Stern Review in 2006, it has become apparent that the risks and potential costs of the impacts of climate change are even greater than we originally recognised.

“Global emissions of greenhouse gases are growing more quickly than projected, the ability of the planet to absorb them now appears lower than was assumed, the potential increases in temperatures due to rising gas concentrations seem higher, and the physical impacts of a warming planet are appearing at a faster rate than expected.”

He suggested the target for levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere should be lower than he previously recommended.

The Stern Review recommended that atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases should be stabilised within a range of 450 to 550 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Now, he believes, the target should not exceed 500ppm, if we are to “keep down the risks of potentially catastrophic impacts that could result from average global temperatures rising 4C or more above pre-industrial levels.”

Scotsman