General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Study: Everyone hates environmentalists and feminists [View all]DanTex
(20,709 posts)Last edited Sat Sep 28, 2013, 01:08 PM - Edit history (1)
I'm not sure which IPCC report you read. Because your post reeks of climate-denialist nonsense:
-- Deny and/or downplay the fact that carbon emissions are the single largest contributor to global warming.
-- Toss in some Heritage Foundation buzzwords like "heavy handed government regulation and taxation."
-- Claim that "it still isn't clear as to how" global warming is caused (seriously, if this isn't straight out of the Petroleum Instutute playbook...)
-- Oppose things like the carbon tax by pointing at "other causes" but offer absolutely no potential solutions.
Even if you actually believed that it was land-use or whatever else causing most of the global warming (which is false: land use only accounts for about 10% of net CO2 emissions), how do you expect that to change without "heavy-handed" government regulation or taxation? People aren't going to stop deforestation without government action any more then they are going to stop burning fossil fuels.
You can find information about the IPCC report here.
http://www.climatechange2013.org/
Start out with the headlines document, that puts it pretty clearly:
http://www.climatechange2013.org/images/uploads/WG1AR5_Headlines.pdf
Then move on to the executive summary, where they explicitly recommend reducing greenhouse gas emissions:
http://www.climatechange2013.org/images/uploads/WGIAR5-SPM_Approved27Sep2013.pdf
components of the climate system. Limiting climate change will require substantial and sustained
reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.
In case you don't know what "greenhouse gas emissions" are, you can turn to the part where they break down the specific causes of anthropogenic radiative forcing (i.e. the effect on global temperatures from human activities). Almost all of anthropogenic radiative forcing is due to emissions of carbon dioxide and methane.
The RF from emissions of well-mixed greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, and Halocarbons) for 2011 relative to 1750 is 3.00 [2.22 to 3.78] W m2 (see Figure SPM.5). The RF from changes in concentrations in these gases is 2.83 [2.26 to 3.40] W m2.{8.5}
Emissions of CO2 alone have caused an RF of 1.68 [1.33 to 2.03] W m2 (see Figure SPM.5). Including emissions of other carbon-containing gases, which also contributed to the increase in CO2 concentrations, the RF of CO2 is 1.82 [1.46 to 2.18] W m2. {8.3, 8.5}
Emissions of CH4 alone have caused an RF of 0.97 [0.74 to 1.20] W m?2 (see Figure SPM.5). This is much larger than the concentration-based estimate of 0.48 [0.38 to 0.58] Wm?2 (unchanged from AR4). This difference in estimates is caused by concentration changes in ozone and stratospheric water vapour due to CH4 emissions and other emissions indirectly affecting CH4. {8.3, 8.5}
And here's a passage on land use change.