9 October 2007
Speaking on the ABC's Lateline program, Professor Flannery has revealed the contents of a crucial Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which will be released in November.
He says the report shows that greenhouse gas levels are at levels far higher than has ever been publicly admitted before.
Professor Flannery says these new figures show that greenhouse gas levels had already reached levels deemed to be dangerous by mid-2005.
"We've really seen an unexpected acceleration in the rate of accumulation of CO2 itself," he said.
"I mean that's been beyond the limits of projection, beyond the worst-case scenario as we thought of it in 2001, and some of the other gases also have been produced on a larger scale than was easy to have imagined."
He says the actual levels of greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere are far beyond what has previously been modelled by climate scientists.
"What the report establishes is that the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is already above the threshold that could potentially cause dangerous climate change," he said.
"So if I was trying to summarise it, what it says is that we already stand an unacceptable risk of dangerous climate change and that the need for action is ever more urgent."
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/09/2054191.htm
