Written question asked by Lord Donoughue (Labour) on Tuesday, 24 January 2017, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 7 February 2017. It was answered by Lord Prior of Brampton (Conservative) on Wednesday, 1 February 2017 on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Climate Change

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what observational evidence, if any, they have of man-made climate change that is not consistent with reasonably expected natural variation.

Answer: The observed increase of global average surface temperature, increase of mean sea level and decline of snow and ice are not consistent with natural internal variability or the influence of external factors. Conversely, the observed changes are consistent with estimates of the Earth’s energy balance which show that, as a result of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, the Earth has absorbed more energy from incoming solar radiation than it has emitted back to space. More evidence can be found in the Working Group I contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: HL4937
Session: 2016-17
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Tuesday, 7 February 2017
Written questions
House of Lords; Climate Change
Tuesday, 14 March 2017
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects: Climate change
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk