Human activity is almost certainly the cause of climate change and global sea levels could rise by several feet by the end of the century, according to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

A leaked early version of a major forthcoming report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations-affiliated panel of scientists that is often cited as the world's

“THAT report is going to scare the wits out of everyone,” said Yvo de Boer recently.

বাড়িটা কি এখনও আছে? সেই চার তলা বাড়িটা, যেটা হৃষিকেশে রামঝুলা ছাড়িয়ে লছমনঝুলা যাবার পথে রাস্তার বাঁকে প্রায় গঙ্গার ওপরই তৈরি হচ্ছিল?

On May 10 the planet marked a milestone of sorts. Scientists recorded that for every million molecules of air, 400 were of carbon dioxide – the key gas that accumulates over decades in the air and leads to global warming. The figure sent alarm bells ringing. A large section of scientists has long predicted that if the accumulated CO ² rose above 350 parts per million (about 200 years ago the concentration was 280ppm) it’d trigger catastrophic, perhaps irreversible changes. When the 400ppm mark was reached, global media went into a spin. Scientists and civil society called for swift action to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Carbon dioxide levels are about to rise to the highest they have been in five million years, triggering warnings a move towards low carbon economies is not happening quick enough.

Scientists are struggling to explain a slowdown in climate change that has exposed gaps in their understanding and defies a rise in global greenhouse gas emissions.

Often focused on century-long trends, most climate models failed to predict that the temperature rise would slow, starting around 2000. Scientists are now intent on figuring out the causes and determining whether the respite will be brief or a more lasting phenomenon.

Says these cities are very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to sea level rise and coastal flooding

Rising sea levels due to climate change are threatening the survival of big cities located near coastal areas like Kolkata, Shanghai and Dhaka, said Dr R K Pachauri, chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). "There is a very high risk in delta cities like Kolkata, Shanghai and Dhaka. They are very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to sea level rise and coastal flooding. Both people and property would be affected in such a scenario," Pachauri told reporters here.

The climate may be heating up less in response to greenhouse-gas emissions than was once thought. But that does not mean the problem is going away.

Expert warns that people should not be seduced by disaster insurance, saying it is not a panacea for weather-related shocks