A couple of weeks ago the IPCC released its fifth major report AR5. 32 volumes is a bit much to wade through for most, but the Summary for Policymakers is a very digestible 28 pages (pdf) expressed in such plain language that even our politicians should be able to understand it. And for those especially in need of even simpler, quick conclusions, the IPCC has helpfully highlighted the main conclusions in 19 (brown?) pullout boxes of less than half a dozen lines each.

Within the limits of scientific certainty, the IPCC’s conclusions are unequivocal. The climate is changing, temperatures are rising, snow and ice is receding, sea levels are rising, etc, and humans are the cause.

The scientists’ degree of certainty has increased significantly since the last major report AR4 released 6 years ago because they now have lots more data and better models.

It’s time for the climate change deniers, the cynics, and most of all the vested interests, to be completely ignored by the media, by policy makers, and by us. Their arguments have been heard, but the time for debate is now over. Now we must act. The risks of doing nothing, or not enough, are just too great.

Risk management is part of every day life. We treat staying out of the hot sun, cleaning our teeth, looking both ways, as automatic routines to avoid risk. We simply don’t bother to test the hypothesis that the sun will cook us, that our teeth will decay and fall out, or that we’ll get killed crossing the road. We take the obvious action to avoid the obvious risk.

So it should be with climate change. Of course science can’t prove with absolute certainty anything about the climate or weather, but it has shown that the risks of ignoring our effect on the planet are huge. No sane person (not even a climate sceptic) would stand unprotected in the hot sun all day every day – the risk of death is just too great. Equally mankind can’t stand and ignore climate change any longer – the catastrophic risks to its future are just too great.

Policymakers need to get on with the job of drastically cutting carbon emissions. Probably too much time has already been lost, but that is all the more reason to get a move on right now.

Here are just two of the IPCC 19 pull outs:

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950’s, 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, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased

Human influence on the climate system is clear. This is evident from the increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, positive radiative forcing, observed warming, and understanding of the climate system

What more do we need to know?

And, what on earth is Abbott’s Government thinking?

In a world where the vast majority agree that the most effective way to reduce emissions is to put a price/tax on carbon, Abbott is still campaigning to abolish the Australian carbon tax. The argument is that is makes the cost of things (electricity in particular) too high.

Well, doh. That was the whole point. Make the cost higher and consumers will use less and reduce emissions. And in any event, the punters were compensated fully with income tax cuts or pension increases.

So clearly Abbott doesn’t get it, or is captured, still, by his old attitude that “climate change is crap”. What an extraordinary position for a “leader” to take?

I’ve predicted before that climate change will again be a central issue in the 2016 election. If that’s right and if Abbott doesn’t reverse his stance, he’ll be a one term Prime Minister.

Let’s see if I’m right …