The UN has issued a clarion call publishing a report delivering dramatic warnings about the effects of climate change and how much worse it could get. The report described as ‘code red for humanity’ said the impact is irreversible and humans are unequivocally responsible for it.
It is already too late to prevent climate change. The best the world can do is slow down so that countries have more time to prepare and adapt. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are already high enough to guarantee climate disruption for decades, if not centuries. This is on top of the deadly heatwaves, urban flooding and weather extremes we are witnessing which are likely to become more severe.
The report gives us the most detailed picture yet of how climate change is altering the world. Unless rapid action is taken to reduce emissions, the average global temperature is likely to cross the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold within the next 20 years. Scientists warn the rise could trigger catastrophic impact such as heatwaves so intense that people could die just from being outdoors.
We have already witnessed disastrous weather this year and are in a climate crisis. This year, heatwaves have already killed hundreds of people in North America and smashed records. Turkey and Greece are struggling to douse wildfires and Europe has recorded extreme rainfall. The ice sheets in polar regions are melting and will continue to raise sea levels and warm oceans. Humans who are responsible for the situation are now unable to prevent it.
The report comes just three months before the UN climate conference COP26 in Glasgow where nations will pledge ambitious climate actions and funding. This should be the end of fossil fuels and coal which are destroying our planet. The world is running out of time even to slow climate change. We need to drastically cut emissions by the next decade or the situation could get worse.
Under the worst scenario, the world could broil at temperatures of 4.4C by the end of the century, which could wipe out humanity. We cannot avoid the irreversible changes and don’t have much choices either to secure the future of our planet.
