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Heard about this report yet? Here’s my distillation of the Times article published Friday and SF Chronicle article published Saturday. I saw that the Bee did a big spread on it yesterday but haven’t had a chance to read it yet.

The Issue
There’s been a perception of controversy about whether or not global warming is a real phenomenon that can conclusively be linked with human activity. Gore’s take is that the controversy is largely due to differences in reporting from the scientific vs. popular media reporting. We’ll see what happens this time round: it sounds like the message is going out loud and clear and with solid consensus.

The Report
Debate over. The evidence is “overwhelming.” Global warming is real, caused by human activity and, if not addressed quickly, will indeed lead to potentially catastrophic world-wide phenomena. This report was the first to specifically project regional implications from global warming.

The Reporters
This group—the Intergovernmental (I keep wanting to write Intergalactic) Panel on Climate Change—is a UN initiated group of scientists that have been studying climate change since the 80’s.
It sounds like a pretty large group–2,500 scientists from around the 113 countries is no small gathering. Established by the UN, te group has been publishing reports every 5 or 6 years since 1988. Tauted for their thorough and conservative procedures, researchers who published the report have a rather intimidating gauntlet of thousands of scientific peers in order prove their opinions are trustworthy.

This particular report is the first of several others to be published this year and is particularly noteworthy because it achieved “unanimous consensus” from delegations from 113 countries, including those from the US and because it went so far as to make regional predictions.

The Projections
Sea ice is projected to shrink in both the Arctic and Antarctic even if industrial and vehicle emissions are immediately reduced. In some projections, the late-summer Arctic sea ice will almost completely disappear by the latter part of the century.

Some say we only have about 10 years to act to stop runaway temperature rises. Ouch.

The Bad News
My understanding is that temperature rises are unavoidable at this point, its now a matter of how high they will go and what level of impact will occur. We’re in the realm where doing nothing will result in “very bad things” and where doing something will “help mitigate the issue” to a manageable level. I’m for doing something.

What about Us Here
The scientists are pointing right at us Western States as the “hardest hit” area in the United States. Heat waves, droughts and intense hurricanes are likely to increase in the coming decades. California predictions: 10 degree increases in summer temps with moderate increases in greenhouse gases; 5 degree temperature rise if we reduce emissions.

The Ticking Clock
Achim Steiner, the executive director of the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) said “February 2 will perhaps one day be remembered as the day the question mark was removed,” he said. “Anyone who would continue to risk inaction will one day in the history books be considered irresponsible.”

Panel chairman, Rajendra Pachauri: “We are in a sense doing things that haven’t happened in 650,000 years.”

The Politicians
Gore must be feeling pretty good right now (perhaps even, eh-hem, vindicated). After all his efforts to convince Congress in the 80’s and 90’s that this was a real and present danger.

Schwarzenegger is cited as a shining example of the rare Republican politician trying to address the issue openly.

Barbara Boxer has established “PAC for Change” and invites you to share your opinion to “help set the global warming agenda”

What Now?
Clearly, we’re in for some climate change, thanks to our gross overconsumption, heedless growth and reliance on carbon-based industries. But I don’t see this as hopeless by any means: the world has been given a solid wake-up call and we can do things to limit the severity of the impact.

It’ll be interesting to see where things go from here.

I think I’ll start the day with Jack Johnson’s “The 3 R’s” from the Curious George soundtrack. Reduce. Re-use. Recycle.

Jason