IPCC Climate Change Report Upstaged by Ukraine

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its Sixth Report in the midst of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Find out why the unfortunate timing has diverted attention from a growing global crisis.

We can’t say that nobody warned us. Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius discovered the fact that releasing C02 emissions into the atmosphere causes a greenhouse effect back in 1896.

Scientists have raised the alarm about greenhouse gases ever since. As the evidence continued to build, the World Meterological Organization (WMO) created the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) thirty-four years ago.

The IPCC is now in the process of releasing its sixth assessment report. They’ve come out every five years over the past three decades.

Must Be Enormously Frustrating to Serve on the IPCC

It must be enormously frustrating to have to serve on the IPCC. So far, virtually all of their warnings have fallen on deaf ears and,even today, greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise instead of fall.

The timing of this new report has been particularly unfortunate. The IPCC released it in the midst of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Even the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had to devote time to condemning the invasion along with announcing the release of IPCC 6. When he did get the chance to talk about the new report, he called it “an atlas of human suffering” and said that it revealed “a criminal abdiction of leadership.”

Report Couldn’t Be Clearer in Its Findings

The report itself couldn’t be clearer in its findings. The Summary for Policy Makers concludes with this stark message.

“The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health. Any further delay in concerted anticipatory global action on adaptation and mitigation will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.”