Geneva, Mar 28 (IANS): Evidence suggests that climate change has led to extreme weather conditions such as heat waves, record high temperatures and, in many regions, heavy precipitation in the past half century, according to a report released Wednesday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The special report observes and projects changes in extreme temperature, precipitation and drought across all continents in the globe, reported Xinhua.
According to the report, while it is believed heatwaves have become more severe in southern Europe and the Mediterranean, many scientists do not seem to observe much climatic change in central and northern Europe.
Scientists predict heavy precipitation will increase in east Africa, but feel few changes will take place in southern Africa and the Sahara.
The 592-page report said that climate extremes, or even a series of non-extreme events, in combination with social vulnerabilities and exposure to risks can produce climate-related disasters. It calls for policy makers to combat this with appropriate government and private sector regulation.
In April and May, the report will be presented to policy-makers in half a dozen locations in Latin America, Asia and Africa, with the support of the Norwegian government and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network.
The report is the outcome of cross-disciplinary teamwork between scientists studying the physical aspects of climate change, scientists with expertise in impacts, adaptation and vulnerability as well as experts in disaster risk management. A total of 220 authors from 62 countries worked on the report, for which 18,784 outside expert and government review comments were received in the three rounds of formal review.
The IPCC was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to assess scientific information related to climate change, to evaluate its environmental and socio-economic consequences and to formulate realistic response strategies.