ABSTRACT
New findings by climate scientists are reported ever more frequently in the media, as public interest in the prospects of climate change has grown dramatically in the recent past for a number of reasons. The long-standing consensus among almost all scientists on the human causes of current rapid global warming and its huge threat for life on Earth has been widely disseminated by former US Vice-President Al Gore in his 2006 book and Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Early in 2007, the IPCC summarized the scientific consensus in its Fourth Assessment Report, and shortly afterwards the EU announced commitments to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by increasing the share of renewable energy. The IPCC and Al Gore then shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of the importance of their work for the future of humanity. At about the same time, the Stern Review commissioned by the British Government provided estimates of huge expected economic costs of global warming and emphasized the urgent need for major investment in mitigation.1
