蘋果日報
諾獎得主 嚴厲警告 暖化恐滅絕1/3物種
2100年升溫6.4℃ 南極冰融吞沒紐約上海
【李寧怡╱綜合外電報導】與美國前副總統高爾（Al Gore）同獲今年諾貝爾和平獎的聯合國跨政府氣候變遷小組（Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change，簡稱IPCC）昨天發表歷來措辭最強烈的報告，警告全球各國必須立刻針對氣候變遷採取行動，否則全球暖化將帶來「突然且無法挽回」的後果，導致地球上近1/3的物種滅絕。
這是IPCC自1990年以來第四度發表大型氣候變遷評估報告，今年的報告總結2500多位專家過去6年的調查研究，已於2月至4月分三階段陸續發表，昨天發表的總結報告，是140餘國代表在西班牙瓦倫西亞激辯5日字斟句酌的成果，明確指出氣候變遷對地球環境的重大影響。不過與會科學家私下透露，會中美國、中國、印度及沙烏地阿拉伯代表均多次對報告文字提出異議。
面臨「災難邊緣」
今年2月的第一階段報告指全球暖化「非常可能」肇因於人類活動，昨天的報告則指全球暖化的罪魁禍首「很明確的」就是人類。報告預測，至2100年全球氣溫將較1980至1999年的平均氣溫上升1.1℃到6.4℃、海平面上升18公分至59公分。報告並警告，只要氣溫上升1.5℃至2.5℃，約20％至30％的動植物物種可能瀕臨滅絕危機；一旦上升攝氏4度，將造成物種「顯著滅絕」。
聯合國秘書長潘基文昨天在《國際前鋒論壇報》針對這份報告發表評論，稱人類若再不採取行動，將瀕臨「災難邊緣」。他特別指出南極一處岌岌可危的冰棚若真正融化，將導致海平面上升6公尺，淹沒紐約、上海等城市。世界自然基金會（World Wildlife Fund）的全球氣候變遷計劃主任維洛姆指這是IPCC歷來「最有力的報告」，其中呈現壓倒性的科學證據，「現在輪到政客接球了。」
這份報告將作為下月3日《聯合國氣候變化綱要公約》締約國會議的決策依據，因此極受各國政府及環保人士重視。由於規範36個工業國溫室氣體排放量的《京都議定書》效期將在2012年屆滿，這項在印尼峇里島舉行的會議將討論新的「路線圖」，希望將拒絕加入《京都議定書》的美國納入規範。
中印CO2排量遽增
這份總結報告發出的警訊較前三次報告更為強烈，但部分學者認為，耗時5至6年的調查研究，其實未能將最新的全球氣候變遷與經濟趨勢充分納入考量，因為中國的快速崛起與能源消耗量已超乎預期。國際能源總署近日的一份報告就指出，中國與印度的二氧化碳排放量正快速增加，若不改變政策，全球平均氣溫在2030年就會上升6度，遠高於IPCC的估計。
水庫見底
受到全球暖化影響，西班牙鄧伯利亞地區近日出現異常高溫，當地一處水庫的水位節節下滑。法新社
瀕臨絕種
由於北極冰層融化，北極熊已被列為瀕危物種。法新社 
瀕臨絕種
由於北極冰層融化，北極熊已被列為瀕危物種。法新社 
IPCC報告概要
．至本世紀末，全球平均氣溫可能較1980至1999年升高1.1℃至6.4℃（最可能範圍是1.8℃至4℃）
．海平面可能上升18至59公分（最可能範圍是28至43公分）
．若氣溫上升1.5℃至2.5℃，約2至3成物種將瀕臨滅絕
．在2020年前，光在非洲地區，就會有7500萬至2.5億人將面臨潔淨水資源短缺，仰賴降雨灌溉的農業收成可能減半
．氣溫上升1℃至2.5℃時，大部分的珊瑚礁將會死亡
．至21世紀下半葉，北極海冰將在夏日消失
．熱浪、暴風雨、熱帶氣旋及海平面升高等天災將在本世紀日益頻繁，且強度增加，影響區域也更廣
天災等議題採取對策
資料來源：綜合外電
The Straits Times
UN chief demands climate 'breakthrough' after key report
VALENCIA (Spain) - UN chief Ban Ki Moon demanded that politicians next month smash the deadlock on tackling global warming, saying a report issued on Saturday by a Nobel-winning climate panel 'has set the stage for a real breakthrough.' 'We cannot afford to leave Bali without such a breakthrough,' the secretary general said, referring to a conference running on the Indonesian island from December 3-14, tasked with setting a strategy for deepening cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions.
Climate change, he warned, was the 'defining challenge of our age.' The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report 'contains one overarching message for all of us: that there are real and affordable ways to deal with climate change,' said Mr Ban.
He warned of the potential of 'catastrophe' from global warming.
The IPCC report unveiled in this Spanish city on Saturday said evidence of a human role in the warming of the planet was now 'unequivocal' and the effects on the climate system could be 'abrupt or irreversible.' Retreating glaciers and loss of snow in Alpine regions, thinning Arctic summer sea ice and thawing permafrost shows that climate change is already on the march, it said.
IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri highlighted several alarming findings, pointing to the threat from rising sea levels that menaced small island nations and hundreds of millions of people living in low-lying deltas.
Mr Pachauri said the report - a guide to policymakers for years to come - implied a new moral imperative.
'We need a new ethic by which every human being realises the importance of the challenge we are facing and starts to take action through changes in lifestyle and attitude,' he said.
He added: 'Every country in the world has to be committed to a shared vision and a set of common goals and actions that will help us move toward a much lower level of emissions.
Green groups said the IPCC synthesis report, while containing no new science compared with three massive volumes issued earlier this year, had pushed home the dangers of warming more forcefully than in previous assessments.
'This is the strongest document the IPCC has produced,' said Mr Hans Verolme, director of the World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF's) Global Climate Change Program.
During five days of negotiations, the United States repeatedly challenged passages emphasizing the level of threat posed by climate change, objecting that the wording was imprecise.
The 'scientific definition' of the dangers of climate change 'is lacking, and so we are operating within the construct of, again, strong agreement among world leaders that urgent action is warranted,' said Mr Jim Connaughton, chairman of White House's Council on Environmental Quality.
The United States is the only major developed economy that has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which requires industrialised countries to make targeted commitments on curbing their greenhouse gases.
The document, which boils down the IPCC's massive 3,000-page study into just 23 pages, is designed to guide politicians facing tough decisions on cutting pollution from fossil fuels, shifting to cleaner energy, bolstering defences against extreme weather, and other issues set to intensify due to climate change. -- AFP
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