Resolution 7476 - Laserfiche WebLink

8. World leaders have been briefed on the science and consequences of global warming and climate change since the 1960s. In the 1970s. Congressional leaders held the first hearings on the impacts of GHGs and climate change, and in 1988 UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was the first global leader to call for action; and 9. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), considered the world authority, has issued many reports on climate change beginning in 1990. In October of 2018, IPCC published a special report, "Global Warming of 1.5C," addressing the Paris Agreement targets of no more than a 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius increase in average global temperature, strengthening the global response and calling for immediate public and private sector actions to reduce GHGs; and 10. The 2018 IPCC 1.5C report documents the effects of 1.5 degrees Celsius warming including: extreme heat, storm events, floods, droughts, fires, sea level rise, disruption to agriculture, health risks, and loss of bio-diversity. All of these effects significantly increase with warmer temperatures; and 11. The "Fourth National Climate Assessment," published by the United States in 2018, identifies changes by regions, and in the Pacific Northwest these include: increases in temperature, large wildfires, reductions in glaciers and snowpack, drought and water scarcity, warmer ocean temperatures, increased frequency and intensity of storm events, ocean acidification, harmful algal blooms, species migration, social disruption and more; and 12. Historical statistical frameworks for measuring storms, fires, droughts and other climate impacts are no longer valid predictors of future events which are increasing in frequency and intensity in relationship to increases in temperature; and 13. According to the IPCC, pathways limiting global warming to 1.5C require rapid and far-reaching transitions in energy, land use, infrastructure (transportation and buildings), and other areas, resulting in deep emission reductions and scaling up of investments. These systems transitions are unprecedented in terms of scale and have been compared historically to preparations for World War II; and 14. The IPCC reports clearly document a disconnection between what climate science tells us regarding the need for rapid reductions in GHG and transformative actions, and current policy directions; and 15. There is a growing disconnection between generations and an emerging youth movement; as a young generation awakens to the impacts associated with inheriting an ever warming world, and the failure of those in positions of power to respond to what has been known for over forty years. E RESOLUTION Page 2 of 4