Hutton scientists welcome launch of IPCC special report on global warming

“We need an even bigger and wider effort to deal with the consequences of climate change. The James Hutton Institute will be doing everything we can to help.”

Scientists from the James Hutton Institute have welcomed the launch of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.

The report states that human activities are estimated to have caused approximately 1.0°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels, with a likely range of 0.8°C to 1.2°C, and that global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate.

The IPCC document also says climate-related risks to health, livelihoods, food security, water supply, human security, and economic growth are projected to increase with global warming of 1.5°C and increase further with 2°C.

Professor Colin Campbell, Chief Executive of the James Hutton Institute, commented: “As discussed at the recent 41^st TB Macaulay Lecture, we need urgent solutions to these challenging predictions.

“We don’t have to be overly pessimistic, but we do need urgency. It is encouraging that science, industry and citizen cooperation helped reverse acid rain and the ozone hole.

“We need an even bigger and wider effort from everyone to deal with the consequences of climate change. The James Hutton Institute will be doing everything we can to help.”

The Institute contributes to the Scottish Government Strategic Research Programme and assesses the effectiveness of the government’s Climate Change Plan and Adaptation Programme. It also carries out projects that help underpin international climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Example of recent work by the Institute include:

• Decline in atmospheric sulphur deposition and changes in climate are the major drivers of long-term change in grassland plant communities in Scotland [1]
• Enhancing the WorldClim data set for national and regional applications [2]
• Potential for using remote sensing to estimate carbon fluxes across northern peatlands [3]
• Potential impacts of climate change on the threat of potato cyst nematode species in Great Britain [4]
• Climate and density dependence cause changes in adult sex ratio in a large Arctic herbivore [5]
• Cross-realm assessment of climate change impacts on species’ abundance trends [6]
• Climate, pollution and grazing drive long‐term change in moorland habitats [7]

The IPCC special report on global warming of 1.5°C is available from the IPCC website [8].