Assessing the observed impact of anthropogenic climate change
Abstract
Impacts of recent regional changes in climate on natural and human systems are documented across the globe, yet studies explicitly linking these observations to anthropogenic forcing of the climate are scarce. Here in this work, we provide a systematic assessment of the role of anthropogenic climate change for the range of impacts of regional climate trends reported in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report. We find that almost two-thirds of the impacts related to atmospheric and ocean temperature can be confidently attributed to anthropogenic forcing. In contrast, evidence connecting changes in precipitation and their respective impacts to human influence is still weak. Moreover, anthropogenic climate change has been a major influence for approximately three-quarters of the impacts observed on continental scales. Finally, hence the effects of anthropogenic emissions can now be discerned not only globally, but also at more regional and local scales for a variety of natural and human systems.
- Authors:
-
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Germany)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1379304
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nature Climate Change
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 6; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 1758-678X
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Citation Formats
Hansen, Gerrit, and Stone, Dáithí. Assessing the observed impact of anthropogenic climate change. United States: N. p., 2015.
Web. doi:10.1038/nclimate2896.
Hansen, Gerrit, & Stone, Dáithí. Assessing the observed impact of anthropogenic climate change. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2896
Hansen, Gerrit, and Stone, Dáithí. Mon .
"Assessing the observed impact of anthropogenic climate change". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2896. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1379304.
@article{osti_1379304,
title = {Assessing the observed impact of anthropogenic climate change},
author = {Hansen, Gerrit and Stone, Dáithí},
abstractNote = {Impacts of recent regional changes in climate on natural and human systems are documented across the globe, yet studies explicitly linking these observations to anthropogenic forcing of the climate are scarce. Here in this work, we provide a systematic assessment of the role of anthropogenic climate change for the range of impacts of regional climate trends reported in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report. We find that almost two-thirds of the impacts related to atmospheric and ocean temperature can be confidently attributed to anthropogenic forcing. In contrast, evidence connecting changes in precipitation and their respective impacts to human influence is still weak. Moreover, anthropogenic climate change has been a major influence for approximately three-quarters of the impacts observed on continental scales. Finally, hence the effects of anthropogenic emissions can now be discerned not only globally, but also at more regional and local scales for a variety of natural and human systems.},
doi = {10.1038/nclimate2896},
journal = {Nature Climate Change},
number = 5,
volume = 6,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Dec 21 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Mon Dec 21 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}
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