The report summarizes the IPCC’s eight years of work (2015-2023) in the sixth work cycle of this organization, which was established in 1988, making it the first organization to glorify the specific goal of global warming in its commitments of the Paris Agreement (2016). An increase of 1.5 degrees will not be exceeded this century.
For now, these have risen by 1.1 degrees compared to the pre-industrial period (1850-1900), will rise by 2.8 degrees if there is no improvement in existing emission reduction commitments and therefore “urgency” according to the IPCC is “climate protection ” , the last synthesis report appeared in 2014. even higher than the times.
The study recommends the application of alternative energy sources such as solar or wind and highlights that the research reduces costs (85% and 55% respectively), so there are even cases where it may be “more expensive” to maintain high emissions. transition to low emissions”.
SUGGESTIONS
In the transport sector, sustainable biofuels recommend the development of other fuels under investigation, e.g. B. Hydrogen-based fuel and electric vehicles (85%) at a time when the cost of lithium batteries is also being reduced.
It also calls for “socio-cultural and behavioral changes” that support this struggle, including eating healthier, using public transport, walking more, cycling, new ways of working and living, reducing electricity consumption or producing less waste .
The IPCC warns that achieving carbon neutrality by at least 2050-2070 will require “rapid, deep and in some cases immediate greenhouse gas reductions”: First, the world must halve its emissions by 2030.
The report warns that the world has emitted 80% of its carbon dioxide (the main gas causing global warming) since 1850, which could limit climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
EFFECTS
The document, prepared after a week of meetings in the Swiss Alpine town of Interlaken, reminds that “global surface temperatures have risen faster since 1970 than any other 50-year period in the past two millennia.” .
It warns that in 2019, concentrations of carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere were the highest in the past two million years (410 parts per million).
The IPCC report also warns that sea level rise, one of the effects of global warming and a potential source of environmental and human disaster, is “inevitable for hundreds or millennia.”
“In the next 2000 years, if global warming is limited to 1.5 degrees, the average sea level will rise by 2 to 3 meters, and if it does not exceed 2 degrees, by 2 to 6 metres,” he said. the research.
The global mean sea level rose by 20 centimeters between 1901 and 2018, but climate change is accelerating the rise: until the 1970s it was 1.3 millimeters per year, between 1971 and 2006 it rose to 1.9 millimeters per year, and will be from 2006 until 2018. increasing to 3.7 millimeters per year.
It also warns that with global warming of between 2 and 3 degrees Celsius (the world is heading there if global emissions reduction commitments are not increased), all ice in Greenland and the western Arctic will almost completely melt.
DISASTERS
The report says an increase in heat waves is “almost certain”, more heavy rainfall is very likely and an increase in fires and flooding is possible.
Experts predict that in some areas this will lead to more deaths from heat waves, more infectious diseases, more flooding, loss of biodiversity and a decrease in agricultural production.
The report, written by 93 authors, reminds us that between 3,300 and 3,600 million people, more than 40% of the world’s population, live in areas at high risk of climate change.
HEAP
Despite the pessimism of many forecasts, the IPCC still sees reason for hope: “There are currently several viable and effective options for reducing emissions and adapting to climate change,” the scientists summarize.
So they look at the lowest-emitting scenario that could manage to keep global warming, which peaked at 1.5 degrees in the middle of the century, at 1.4 degrees in 2100.
The report laments that there is still a lack of political commitment or a “low sense of urgency” and that climate change adaptation programs are fragmented and unevenly distributed: on the other hand, only 18 countries have achieved absolute reductions in emissions over a period of time. For over 10 years.
Source: Ultimahora
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Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
