Leaked IPCC Draft Cites Widespread Effects of Climate Change, Calls for Action

A leaked draft of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change "Summary for Policymakers" cites "widespread and consequential" impacts throughout the globe as a result of climate change.

Published on the site No Frakking Consensus, the draft identifies a variety of impacts on ecosystems and societies the changing global climate has, and will have, in coming years.

Already, climate change has forced land and sea species to shift "their ranges, seasonal activities, migration patterns, and abundance, and have demonstrated altered species interactions," the authors write -- an observation they express "high confidence" in.

In addition, the researchers warn that climate change is threatening the water supply in areas around the globe.

"In many regions, changing precipitation or melting snow and ice are altering hydrological systems, affecting water resources and quality," they state with "medium confidence."

With the same amount of confidence, they add that climate change has resulted in an increase in heat-related deaths and a decrease in cold-related deaths in some parts of the globe due to warming.

Global warming, they agree with "high confidence," is negatively affecting the world food supply.

"Negative impacts of climate change on crop and terrestrial food production have been more common than positive impacts, which are evidence in some high-latitude region," they write. "Recent periods of rapid food and cereal price increases have indicated that current markets in key producing regions are sensitive to climate extremes."

Together, the researchers resoundingly agree that extreme weather caused by climate change highlight "significant vulnerability and exposure of some ecosystems and many human systems to climate variability." Such weather events include heat waves, droughts, floods and wildfires, among others.

For these and other reasons, the document calls on world leaders to act to both adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change even as its extent and repercussions remain somewhat unclear, citing a wide number of measures currently underway all the way from the Arctic to Australia. These policies include conservation and management of natural areas, among other things.

"Responding to climate-related risks involves making decisions and taking actions in the face of continuing uncertainty about the extent of climate change and the severity of impacts in a changing world," the authors write, "with potential limits to the effectiveness of incremental approaches."