In addition, the pattern of
sea surface temperatures at low latitudes is
extremely important for regional climate variations (shown, for example, by the increased likelihood of heavy winter rainfall in California when the eastern tropical Pacific
warms in El Niño events).
The IPCC has already concluded that it is «virtually certain that human influence has
warmed the global climate system» and that it is «
extremely likely that more than half of the observed increase in global average
surface temperature from 1951 to 2010» is anthropogenic.1 Its new report outlines the future threats of further global
warming: increased scarcity of food and fresh water; extreme weather events; rise in
sea level; loss of biodiversity; areas becoming uninhabitable; and mass human migration, conflict and violence.