WASHINGTON (Washington Insider Magazine) – – The devastating effects of the climate crisis are likely to continue and intensify as humanity steamrolls its way towards an unrecognizable future, according to the latest UN climate report. Its findings say that human activities have caused “irreversible” and “unprecedented” damage to Earth.
Released on Aug. 10 by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the report issues a clear warning to humanity: there is no more time to wait. The warming threshold of 1.5 C (34.7 F) will be crossed in 20 years without immediate and widespread action.
“The new IPCC report shows that every fraction of a degree hotter endangers our health and future,” World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebereyesus tweeted the same day. “Similarly, every action taken to limit emissions and warming brings us closer to a healthier and safer future.”
The report, which is the sixth in a series released by the panel, “unequivocally” attributes climate change to human activity. It says the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels, extreme heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts, and tropical cyclones, can already be seen around the world.
Source: UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report
It details five possible scenarios for the planet’s future, shown in graphs above and table below, each more dire than the last. The most ideal situation, in which the worst effects of the climate crisis are avoided, has the world cutting fossil-fuel, such as coal, natural gas and diesel, emissions, to net zero by 2050 and the global surface temperature stabilizes at 1.4C (34.5 F) by the end of the century. This scenario is the only one that aligns with the multi-national Paris Agreement that aims to keep global warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial temperatures. The other scenarios are detailed with progressively worse consequences, and the worst scenario is to be avoided at all costs.
Eestimated global temperature rises in each scenario
Source: UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report
Different regions around the world will be impacted in varying degrees. Europe can expect warming to increase at a rate higher than the global average, according to the panel. The report stresses that regardless of the scenario actualized in 20 years, these effects will be felt. In Europe that means more fires, floods, droughts and higher sea levels. The report was published alongside an interactive atlas that shows data for rising temperatures across the world.
World leaders have reacted to the report with concern. President Joe Biden tweeted on Monday: “We can’t wait to tackle the climate crisis. The signs are unmistakable. The science is undeniable. And the cost of inaction keeps mounting.” Boris Johnson called the report a “wake up call.”
A U.N. COP26 climate conference bringing together leaders around the world is set to take place in November in Glasgow, Scotland.
