It’s Quite Technical – But Here’s the Latest Climate Report, in Plain English.
11th August 2021
The latest report by the United Nations IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) makes scary reading.
Instead of working through all the technical stuff, here are 5 main points from the report that you need to know.
#1. It’s Us
There is no doubt. Absolutely no doubt. Humans have caused climate change.
#2. We’ll see 1.5 in the next few years
We’ve warmed temperatures by just over 1 degree C. (It doesn’t sound like a lot, does it?). Limiting emissions to keep the temperature to a max of 1.5 degrees above will still cause huge problems around the world – as we have seen this year alone.
But we will probably reach 1.5 within the next decade if we don’t make drastic changes. That’s very, very close.
Thinking about the violent events this year – wildfires, floods, drought and more – it’s hard to imagine how bad life will get with 1.5 degrees of warming.
Carry on below for the good news and the hopeful news…….
#3. Bad News – Some Changes are Irreversible
Even if we reduce emissions, some events will continue – the ice sheets will continue to melt, for example. And that means we’ll have sea level rise – 2 to 3 metres in the long term.
Which means that floods and storms that occurred only once per century in the past, will probably occur once or twice per decade by mid-century.
#4. Good News – Net Zero Will Truly Help
Climate science now makes it easier to predict what will happen.
In the past, no one could say for sure how much it would help to reduce emissions. Now, scientists know that Net Zero (reducing emissions by switching to renewables, and capturing carbon from the air resulting in no new emissions) will make a big difference.
Another interesting piece of good news is that reducing methane emissions can be a big win in the short term. The oil and gas industries can slash methane emissions quickly and cheaply.
(Hopefully, they’ll do so – or be forced to do so).
#5. There’s Hope – It Opens the Way for Action
This report comes just in time for COP26, the climate conference in Glasgow. The report is detailed and specific about what will happen if politicians don’t act. So it should be a good basis for negotiations.
If they don’t act, however, it’s now easier for campaigners to go to court to force governments and companies to act on climate science.
Basically, the report provides a new, powerful means for everyone everywhere to hold the fossil fuel industry and governments directly responsible for the climate emergency. And that’s good news.
Conclusion
Climate change is no longer something that happens to other people, far away. It’s here. Right now. And almost everyone in the world is feeling the effects.
This new report paints a terrifying picture of our future world – a “code red” of violent storms, floods, wildfires and droughts.
But the report also brings clarity and certainty, which will help politicians and companies clearly see what needs to be done.
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Warm regards,
P.S. Don’t forget to see what you can do to help slow climate change – click here (it’s free)
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