IPCC Summary Report: 2006 (PDF)
This is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's first statement of this magnitude since 2001.
The press conference. (Embedded Windows Media; audio; ActiveX required.)
Keep an eye on the IPCC site for more as the year progresses. This is just the summary.
Some related news, from Democracy Now!, 2/2/07:
RFK, Jr. on Exxon-Mobil's War on Science.Human-Caused Global Warming Could be Insurmountable
The world’s leading body of climate scientists has concluded global warming is “very likely” caused by human activity and may be impossible to stop. In its strongest language to date, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Environmental Climate Change is predicting melting glaciers, rising temperatures and higher sea levels. IPCC Chair Rajendra Pachauri: "I only want to draw your attention to the fact that we are, and if you look at the language of the summary for policy makers you'll be able to read this, we are in a sense doing things, that perhaps have not happened in 650,000 years."
For the first time, the panel also said global warming has been the likely cause of increased hurricane and cyclone activity over the last thirty years. IPCC working group co-chair Susan Solomon warned of more unexpected changes if current trends continue.Susan Solomon: "If we were to keep emitting green house gases at or above the current rate, that would cause further warming and induce many changes in the global system, the global climate system, that would very likely be larger in the 21st century than they were in the 20th century."
Under Pressure, Panel Downgrades Probability of Human Causation
Although the climate change report is the gloomiest on record, it’s already being criticized for not going far enough. The panel was said to have initially reached a consensus of ninety-nine percent certainty on human activity’s link to global warming. But it reduced the assessment to ninety-percent under reported pressure from China. Several scientists have also warned the IPCC’s warnings on sea levels could be outdated and too optimistic.Scientists Offered $10,000 to Challenge Climate Report
Opponents of global warming science had their own response. The American Enterprise Institute is now offering scientists and economists $10,000 to write articles undermining the UN climate change report.Exxon-Mobil Posts Record $39.5 Billion Profit
The American Enterprise Institute’s offer came as one of its funders -- the oil giant Exxon -- announced another record year for its bottom line. On Thursday, Exxon posted an annual profit of $39.5 five billion dollars for 2006. That’s the most ever by a US company, beating Exxon’s own record from 2005.