An analysis of the latest climate change science concludes that humanity is approaching the last chance to keep global warming below the danger threshold of 2ºC, the international conservation organisation World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said on Sunday.
In a statement issued in Geneva, Switzerland, the WWF called on governments meeting for the United Nations climate change talks in Poznan, Poland, this week to develop a strong negotiation text for the new climate treaty due to be adopted in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the end of 2009. This will be the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol, which will come into effect in 2013.
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In the first phase, only developed countries had to constrain carbon emissions. In the next phase, the big polluters of the developing countries - including South Africa - will be expected to limit emissions too.
South Africa already exceeds the global per capita average of carbon emissions.
Experts have said nothing could stop the global climate changing, but its worst effects could be avoided if steps were taken now to reduce carbon emissions and keep the average global temperature increase below 2ºC. Now, the WWF says scientists suggest that even a warming of less than 2ºC might be enough to trigger the loss of Arctic sea ice and the meltdown of the Greenland ice sheet.
This is because of unforeseen "feedback" effects which result in warming being faster and more intense than previously forecast. This melting would cause global sea levels to rise by several metres, threatening millions of people worldwide.
Kim Carstensen, WWF's global climate initiative leader, said: "The latest science confirms that we are now seeing devastating consequences of warming that we were not expected to hit for decades.
"Responsible politicians cannot dare to waste another second on delaying tactics in the face of these urgent warnings from nature."
It takes only a few degrees' change in the average global temperature to cause enormous changes on Earth.
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