1. 2005 was the warmest year ever recorded, closely followed by 1998 and 2007. Twelve of the 13 warmest years on record were between 1995 and 2007.
2. The reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are based on the peer-reviewed, published work of 2,500 scientists in more than 130 countries.
3. Climate is average weather. It’s what all the weather adds up to over time, to give averages for temperature, rainfall, snow and frost.
4. The difference in climate between a warm period and the middle of an ice age is between 4°C and 6°C.
5. 125,000 years ago (during the last warm period between ice ages) temperatures were around 1.5°C higher than they are now; the sea level was 4-6m higher.
6. The world has already warmed 0.74°C over the past 100 years.
7. The oceans keep New Zealand cooler than the rest of the world. Since 1950 New Zealand has warmed by 0.4°C. Thank you, Pacific Ocean.
8. If we stop emitting all greenhouse gases today, the world will keep warming because of the gas already in the atmosphere. In 30 years it would be at least 1.6°C warmer than before the Industrial Age began 200 years ago.
9. The most serious consequences of global warming might be avoided if global average temperatures rise by no more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
10. If greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked, our grandchildren could face increases in global average temperature of up to 6°C by 2100. This will have a devastating impact on life on Earth.

Compiled from the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (2007) and Hot Topic by Gareth Renowden (AUT Media, 2007)

If there’s no action before 2012, that’s too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment.

And then this today in the Dominion Post.

Please read the science. I think the evidence is so strong we would be ignoring it at our own peril and the peril of all living species.

Unfortunately while the climate change denial debate that we have on a regular basis here at frogblog has been a fun way to pass the time, passing time is increasingly exactly the problem.  It’s a shame that scientists like Pachauri need to step beyond their role as scientists and instead play advocates for the science that so many politicians are failing to act upon.  But it does indicate that the clear gravity of the story science is telling us.