Fossil fuel use increases the CO2 in the atmosphere causing acidification of the ocean and global warming.  The consequences are described in the International Panel on Climate Change ARC5 reports.

 

The following statements are from IPCC ARC5 'Climate Change 2014 Synthesis Report Summary Chapter for Policymakers.'  It is the summary of the global scientific knowledge at the time and has had global input to the report. 

 

“SPM 1. Observed Changes and their Causes

• Human influence on the climate system is clear, and recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are the highest in history. Recent climate changes have had widespread impacts on human and natural systems.

• Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, and sea level has risen.

• Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have increased since the pre-industrial era, driven largely by economic and population growth, and are now higher than ever. This has led to atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide that are unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years. Their effects, together with those of other anthropogenic drivers, have been detected throughout the climate system and are extremely likely to have been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.

• In recent decades, changes in climate have caused impacts on natural and human systems on all continents and across the oceans. Impacts are due to observed climate change, irrespective of its cause, indicating the sensitivity of natural and human systems to changing climate.

• Changes in many extreme weather and climate events have been observed since about 1950. Some of these changes have been linked to human influences, including a decrease in cold temperature extremes, an increase in warm temperature extremes, an increase in extreme high sea levels and an increase in the number of heavy precipitation events in a number of regions.

 

SPM 2. Future Climate Changes, Risks and Impacts

• Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems. Limiting climate change would require substantial and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions which, together with adaptation, can limit climate change risks.

• Cumulative emissions of CO2 largely determine global mean surface warming by the late 21st century and beyond. Projections of greenhouse gas emissions vary over a wide range, depending on both socio-economic development and climate policy.

• Surface temperature is projected to rise over the 21st century under all assessed emission scenarios. It is very likely that heat waves will occur more often and last longer, and that extreme precipitation events will become more intense and frequent in many regions. The ocean will continue to warm and acidify, and global mean sea level to rise.

• Climate change will amplify existing risks and create new risks for natural and human systems. Risks are unevenly distributed and are generally greater for disadvantaged people and communities in countries at all levels of development.

• Many aspects of climate change and associated impacts will continue for centuries, even if anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are stopped. The risks of abrupt or irreversible changes increase as the magnitude of the warming increases.”

 

“Anthropogenic GHG emissions are mainly driven by population size, economic activity, lifestyle, energy use, land use patterns, technology and climate policy.”

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Despite this clear statement of risk to the planet and serious adverse impacts in Australia being known, politicians have not been able to develop a national path to reduced emissions from fossil fuels.  There are powerful pressures to maintain the fossil fuel industry within Australia.  Governments at all levels rely on this industry to generate revenue.  This works to prevent independent decisions on fossil fuel industry proposals and climate change in Australia.

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The news is full of stories of severe weather events described as 'the worst in living memory', intense rain events causing flooding, heatwaves, bushfires, droughts.  Individually these cannot be casually attributed to global warming.  However, this is what the IPCC predicted.  It seems the science is correct and it is telling the world how to counter, or minimize the adverse impacts of global warming.  Globally, we must urgently reduce the burning of Coal Oil and Gas to reduce the emissions from these fossil fuels

 

Despite there being sound economic advantages to consumers and evidence that renewable electricity costs (Lazard 2017) are significantly lower than both nuclear and coal energy generation costs  with the bonus of less pollution, the Federal Government is not actively promoting and encouraging the rapid adoption of renewable energy sources.

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In the absence of sound political leadership,  the community must take action to reduce fossil fuel emissions to protect our prosperity, community and environment.  Gympie Community Solar Assn is doing this locally.

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