The new IPCC climate change report makes it official: We are flirting with self-destruction

And that's a conservative reading of the data

Pollution, 1970
(Image credit: (AP Photo))

The latest International Panel on Climate Change report is out, this one on the threats that climate change poses to human society (read the summary here). Like all reports from the United Nations panel, this one is pretty conservative. There are thousands of scientists involved, and so the organization is naturally drawn to lowest-common-denominator statements that won't cause lengthy disputes.

Nevertheless, also like every IPCC report, this one has some bracing stuff. Here's just a small sample:

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.