September 26, 2019 — Rising sea levels threaten New York and other major cites, the world’s glaciers are melting at alarming rates and global fisheries are shrinking. These are just some of the impacts that emissions of greenhouse gases have already triggered across the planet, according to a new landmark report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
More than 100 authors from 36 countries assessed the latest scientific literature related to the ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate for the report, referencing about 7,000 scientific publications for the report titled — “Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.” It is the last of three special reports from the IPCC following on climate change.
“The open sea, the Arctic, the Antarctic and the high mountains may seem far away to many people,” said Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC. “But we depend on them and are influenced by them directly and indirectly in many ways – for weather and climate, for food and water, for energy, trade, transport, recreation and tourism, for health and wellbeing, for culture and identity.”