270 authors from 67 countries have signed what is, to date, the largest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and in which they capture what is already evidence: the consequences of the climate crisis represent a palpable threat to human well-being and the health of the entire planet.
The room for change is narrowing. Scientists warn that either there is a concerted global effort to drastically reduce carbon emissions or we will not be able to avoid the most disastrous consequences of climate change.
no good news
According to the report, the effects of climate change are manifesting themselves around the world both in people and in nature in a more widespread way and in a much more serious way than had been predicted.
The document stresses that if global warming is not limited to just a couple of tenths of a degree, the Earth hit regularly by deadly heat, fires, floods and droughts in the coming decades will degrade in 127 ways, some “potentially irreversible”.
“The accumulated scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human well-being and the health of the planet,” says the latest UN report. If we limit ourselves to delaying cuts in carbon emissions and waiting for simple adaptation to the impacts of warming, “we will lose a short window of opportunity that will quickly close to ensure a livable and sustainable future for all”.
They also show that between 3.3 and 3.6 billion people, about 42% of the world’s current population, live in areas considered “highly vulnerable” to the effects of climate change. As a consequence, millions and perhaps billions of people could be facing the very real possibility of food and water shortages in this very century.
“I have seen many scientific reports in my time, but none like this one. Today’s IPCC report is an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres added in a statement. “Nearly half of humanity lives in the danger zone, now. Many ecosystems are at the point of no return right now. Unchecked carbon pollution is forcing the world’s most vulnerable into a march to destruction.”
The need for adaptation is growing in low-income regions, particularly in parts of Africa, South Asia, small island states, and Central and South America.
undeniable facts
Guterre insists that it is essential to meet the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. “Science tells us that it will require the world to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.”
Climate change is already affecting many parts of the Earth. And some of the consequences are not going to go away any time soon. Sea levels will continue to rise for decades , driven in part by the uncontrolled melting of the Greenland ice sheet , for example.
With every tenth of a degree of warming, many more people die from heat stress, heart and lung problems from heat and air pollution, infectious diseases, mosquito-borne diseases and starvation, the authors say. Similarly, in some places it will be too hot for people to work outdoors, which will be a problem for crops.
There is no more margin: it is time for change
Because the world is already 1.1 degrees warmer than it was in pre-industrial times and emissions continue to rise, rather than fall, the vast majority of future scenarios show that temperatures are on track to soar well above 1.5 degrees, reaching the mark in 2030. The consensus of the IPCC is that emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030 and zero net emissions by 2050. However, under current commitments, global emissions will increase by almost 14 % during the current decade.
Condensing more than 1,000 pages of analysis and released on February 28 as part of the IPCC’s sixth climate science assessment, the 36-page report details how the consequences of climate change are unfolding in different regions and assessed the adaptive capacities of communities and regions.
Referencia: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report. Climate change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. February 28, 2022.
