Senator Carper Highlights Report on Global Climate Change

WASHINGTON- Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, highlighted a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report, titled “Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis”, found that the global climate temperature has increased dramatically since the 1950s and provides clear evidence that humans have had a direct impact on rising global temperatures.

“Today’s report by the IPCC confirms what scientists here in the United States and throughout the world have been saying for years: climate change is real and we are a main cause of it,” said Chairman Carper. “The report details disturbing evidence of the climate changes we’ve seen in the last 30 years and warns of the devastating changes to come if we don’t take action. We’re already seeing the harmful effects of climate change in coastal communities, like Delaware, that have been hit by successively brutal hurricanes over the past decade. This should not be a Democrat or Republican issue, rather, this is a global issue and we need to be leading the global community in the effort to address this challenge, rather than lagging behind. Action is needed now, before it is too late. The consequences are too great to continue sitting on the sidelines or denying that there’s a problem. That is why I support the President’s Climate Action Plan – including recent efforts to regulate power plant emissions, our nation’s greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions in this country.  I will also continue to find ways to work with my colleagues on commonsense efforts to address climate change.”                                                                                                                                                                     

Global temperatures over the past three decades have increased more than during any other period since 1850. In the Northern Hemisphere, the past 30 years were likely the warmest period of the last 1400 years. The report states that there is a clear correlation between human influence on the environment and increasing global temperatures. This is evidenced by, among other indicators, increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. The report finds that it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of increased warming in the mid-20^th century.

More information on the report can be found, here.