摘要：Global warming and climate change have been the topic ofdiscussion among scientists, researchers, politicians, policy makers,members of civil society, and people of all walks of life for more than 20years across the globe. This discussion started in the 1980s as the “greenhouse effect” – warming of the atmosphere due to the absorption ofearth’s outgoing long wave radiation by the greenhouse gases. Initially,this discussion was only among climate specialists, but started tobecome widespread after the formation of the IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988 by the World MeteorologicalOrganization (WMO) and the United Nations Environmental Program(UNEP). Another event helped to generate this attention, particularlyamong the world’s national governments, was the first Earth Summitheld in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Both the IPCC and the UNEP assessthe scientific, technical, and socio-economic information relevant forunderstanding risk associated with human-induced climate change.Since 1988, both have published reports on global warming and climatechange and advocated the urgent need for action to prevent or reducepotential impacts climate change [1].
