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Abstract OUR CHANGING CLIMATE: A GLOBAL POLICY ISSUE Robert W. Corell Earth’s climate is changing, with the global temperature
now rising at a rate unprecedented in the experience of modern human
society. While some historical changes in climate have resulted
from natural causes and variations, the strength of the trends and
the patterns of change that have emerged in recent decades indicate
that human influences, resulting primarily from increased emissions
of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, have now become the
dominant factor. These climate changes are being experienced particularly
intensely in the Arctic. Arctic average temperature has risen at
almost twice the rate as the rest of the world in the past few decades.
Widespread melting of glaciers and sea ice and rising permafrost
temperatures present additional evidence of strong Arctic warming.
These changes in the Arctic provide an early indication of the environmental
and societal significance of global warming. An acceleration of
these climatic trends is projected to occur during this century
and climatic processes unique to the Arctic have significant effects
on global and regional climate. The changes are an early indication
for the rest of the world of the environmental and societal significance
of global climate change, as these changes will reach far beyond
the Arctic, affecting global climate, sea level, biodiversity, and
many aspects of human social and economic systems. The Arctic region,
more than any other region in the world, provides a bellwether,
a “canary-in-the-mine” for the world at-large as climate
change impacts more directly lower latitudes in the coming decades.
Climate change is taking place within the context of many other
ongoing changes, including globalization, poverty and hunger, land
use changes, rapid growth in the human population, and changes in
cultural, governance, and economic conditions. Impacts on the environment
and society result not from climate change alone, but from the interplay
of all of these changes. It is these issues that will be discussed
during this presentation on Our Changing Climate: A Global Reality.
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