Clouds, seas to be targeted by U.N. climate report

OSLO (Reuters) – Cloud formation, sea level rises and extreme weather events are among areas set to get more attention in the next U.N. report on global warming due in 2014, the head of the Nobel Peace Prize winning panel said on Friday.

Rajendra Pachauri also said the panel did not plan to issue more frequent reports as suggested by some governments, reckoning that several years were needed to come up with robust findings. The last series of reports was in 2007.

…He welcomed an agreement by major economies at a Group of Eight summit in Italy last week to recognize a broad scientific view that world temperature rises should not exceed 2 Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times.

But he said too little was being done to achieve the limit.

“It’s a step forwards. I wish they would have made some commitments on what would ensure limiting the temperature increase to 2 degrees,” he said.

“In the (2007 report) we said if you want to limit temperatures to that range all we have is up to 2015 as the year when global emissions must peak and they must decline thereafter,” he said.

Of 177 scientific scenarios in the 2007 report, only 6 looked at tough emissions curbs needed to keep temperature rises below 2 Celsius.

Governments have put more funding into scientific research into higher emissions limits that they judge to be more likely.

Reuters