Two Very Different Perspectives on the IPCC Climate Change Report

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released its fifth report on climate change. From The Huffington Post:

"Since 1988, the IPCC has been compiling reports (this is the fifth) documenting the physical science behind climate change. In essence, it measures the extent and severity of global warming and its attendant impacts, and analyzes it alongside the global response to the problem.

 

Scientists work in tandem on the report; findings are collected based on group consensus. The science community studies articles on topics covering a continuum of subjects, including the impact of extreme weather occurrences (floods and droughts) on world poverty and hunger. The goal is to help shape international policy based on the substantiated data. The report is broken down into four components:

 

• The science of climate change
• Reports on the impacts of climate change
• Ways to moderate climate change
• A summation and integration of the previous three topics

 

The conclusions showed that there is no doubt about the reality of climate change; it is caused by human action. Directive: Immediate response is essential. Sea levels are rising, sea ice is declining, oceans are acidifying, and precipitation patterns are changing. There will be more severe floods, storms and droughts."

 

While the report has provoked a lot of responses, there have been two in particular which have caught my eye. One was tears, the other laughter. Tears of a clown anyone?