No need to wait before acting on climate: UN expert

The key facts on global warming are already known and leaders should not wait for the next edition of the UN climate panel's report to step up action, the body's top scientist says.
The 4th Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released in 2007, "is very clear," Rajendra Pachauri told AFP in Paris, before a five-day meeting of the body in Brest, France.
The fifth multi-volume assessment, which summarises peer-reviewed science to help policy makers make decisions, is due out in 2013/14.

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"We have enough evidence, enough scientific findings which should convince people that action has to be taken," he said after a round-table discussion with French Environment Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet.
"Based on observation, we know that there will be more floods, more drought, more heat waves and more extreme precipitation events. These things are happening," Pachauri said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/no-need-to-wait-before-acting-on-climate-un-expert-20110720-1hog2.html#ixzz1SdsTIYVi