This will cause billions of dollars of damage to coastal areas, crucial ecosystems and the agricultural sector worldwide, the report warns.
The warming of Earth and increases in sea level "would continue for centuries ... even if greenhouse gas concentrations were to be stabilized," says a 20-page summary of the report, which was leaked to the media nearly a day before its official release slated for Friday morning in Paris.
The summary of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report also says the "best estimate" from scientists is that temperatures will rise between 3.2 to 7.8 degrees by 2100, while sea levels could rise by 7 to 23 inches by the end of the century. If the Greenland ice sheet and an ice shelf identified as Larsen B in western Antarctica continues to melt at current rates, this could go up by another 5 to eight inches.
The phrase "very likely" indicates a 90% certainty, said the Los Angeles Times, noting that the last IPCC report, issued five years ago, had said it was "likely" that human activity was at fault, indicating a certainty of 66 per cent. .
Many scientists had argued during the editing process of this report that it 'should say it is a "virtually certain" that human activities are causing global warming. That would indicate a 99% certainty,' the Los Angeles Times report said.
'But the change was strongly resisted by China, among other nations, because of its reliance on fossil fuels to help build its economy.'
While the 2002 report said it did not have enough evidence to connect global warming with the rise in powerful storms, this report said it is "more likely than not" that the strong hurricanes and cyclones observed since 1970 have been produced by global warming.
The 'obvious solution' would be to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas, by reducing the use of fossil fuels in automobiles, factories and power plants, said the Times.
But some major countries, including the US States, China and India, have no defined targets. President Bush withdrew the U.S. from the Kyoto protocol, designed to reduce such emissions, in 2001, arguing that it was an "economic straitjacket" and that it failed to set rigourous enough standards for developing nations.
