U.N. Environment Programme To Deliver Important Environmental Study At Copenhagen Summit

John DuBois, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is slated to present an important environmental study at the upcoming international climate change summit in Copenhagen.

“With this report we wish to remind the world [that] with everyday that passes, the underlying trends that science has provided to humanity about what is happening on the planet and what we are causing to happen on the planet, is such a dramatic nature. Shying away from a major agreement in Copenhagen would be unforgivable,” UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said during a press conference Wednesday.

The UNEP believes the study, titled the Climate Change Science Compendium 2009, is not a consensus document or an update of any other process. Instead, UNEP claims it is a presentation of some exciting scientific findings, interpretations, ideas, and conclusions that have emerged among scientists.

The Compendium finds that temperatures are rising because of the increased pollution in the atmosphere. The increased temperatures, as a result are speeding up the melting of glaciers, raising sea levels. In addition, the study warns of collapsing ecosystems and acidification in the oceans.