CRI听力：Scientists Say Global Warming Accelerating Beyond Worst Predictions

Hundreds of climate researchers warned on Thursday that global warming is accelerating beyond the worst predictions and threatening to trigger irreversible climate shifts on the planet.

They urged policy-makers to vigorously implement the economic and technological tools available to cut emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.(www.hXen.com)

The message came at the end of a three-day conference in Copenhagen aimed at updating the findings of a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

British climate change economist Nicholas Stern told the conference that the global recession presents an opportunity to build a more energy-efficient economy.

"If we do not manage climate change by reducing our emissions, we risk sometime around the end of this century or the beginning of next, temperatures increases of five degrees centigrade and more."

Stern said green investments made sense because energy-efficient economies would be more sustainable in the future.

The conclusions of the congress will be presented to politicians when they meet in Copenhagen in December to discuss a new global agreement on greenhouse gas emissions to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.