A Line In The Sea: NOAA Picks 'Tipping Points' For Sea Level Related Flooding
Thursday, December 18, 2014 - 21:30
in Earth & Climate
Predictions about specific effects of climate change were once common - but they turned out to be spectacularly wrong so there are fewer these days. In 2006, former Vice-President Al Gore said by 2016 it would be too late to do anything, while the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said African farmers would be suffering 50% yield drops by 2020 and the Himalayan glaciers would be gone by 2035. Today, the IPCC is more scientific and cautions against attributing specific weather events to global warming. They recognize that the public loses confidence in science itself when scientists engage in advocacy. But without reliable metrics, it is hard to know how pressing the issue is so someone has to put in some numbers. read more