Panel 90% certain that humans are causing climate change

Various: All the major media outlets report today on the public recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC said temperatures were probably going to increase by 1.8-4C (3.2-7.2F) by the end of the century with sea levels expected to rise by 28-43cm. The summary was issued earlier today with the four main reports explaining the science behind their recommendations, will be released in four parts throughout the year. The BBC quotes NOAA atmospheric scientist Susan Soloman, one of the lead authors of the IPCC report as saying “We can be very confident that the net effect of human activity since 1750 has been one of warming.” The New York Times adds that Soloman declined to express any opinion on what governments should do to combat climate change. “I honestly believe that it would be a much better service for me to keep my personal opinions separate than what I can actually offer the world as a scientist,” she said. “My stepson, who is 29, has an utterly different view of risks than I do. People are going to have to make their own judgments.” The Guardian talked to Anote Tong, the president of Kiribati, a group of 33 Pacific coral atolls threatened by rising seas, “The question is, what can we do now?” said Tong, “There’s very little we can do about arresting the process.” A shorter piece looks at rising sea levels in particular.The Guardian also reports on an attempt by the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank partly funded by some oil companies, to pay scientists $10,000 plus travel expenses if they would decry the IPCC statements. “It’s a desperate attempt by an organization who wants to distort science for their own political aims,” said David Viner of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia.