The panel concluded that human-induced climate change is real and that levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are increasing. The main contributor is carbon dioxide from burning coal, oil and gas. The report noted that the planet faces probable temperature increases unprecedented in human history, but stated that the first signs of climate change might not emerge for at least a decade. Greenpeace has been monitoring scientific and news reports of major extreme weather events and natural climate-related disasters since the IPCC's first warning in 1990. Greenpeace believes the only conclusion that can be drawn from this 'catalogue of disasters' is that global warming is now detectable and the first impacts of human-induced climate change are in fact already being felt.
Climate change means much more than higher temperatures.
It will mean an increase in average global temperatures, but some regions will warm more than others, and some may in fact cool. Impacts will vary considerably. Changing rainfall patterns will bring more droughts to some regions but more floods to others. Many plants and animals will face extinction. Water supplies will become less reliable in some regions, particularly in those already vulnerable.