Many of the impacts of global warming are already “irreversible”, according to the latest UN assessment.
Even so, the authors of this new report, published this Monday and which updates from 2010 what is known about global warming and its effects, point out that there is still a short time to avoid the worst.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that humans and the nature are being pushed beyond their ability to adapt.
More than 15% of the world’s population is “highly vulnerable” to the weather, according to the grim study.
However, he adds that there is hope that if the increase in temperature is maintained for below 1.5 °C, the projected losses will be reduced.
Only four months after the COP26, where world leaders pledged to take swift action to curb climate change , this new UN study reveals the scale of their task.
“Our report clearly indicates that the places where people live and work may cease to exist, that the ecosystems and species we have all grown up with and that are central to our cultures and make up our languages may disappear,” said Debra Roberts, co-chair of the IPCC.
“So this is really a key moment. Our report makes it very clear that this is the decade for action, if we are going to change things.”
Causes, impacts and solutions
The IPCC report is the second of three reviews by the world’s most important body of climate researchers.
Droughts and other extreme events will become more frequent due to global warming. (Photo: GETTY IMAGES)
The first, published last August, highlighted the scale of the effect that humans were having on the climate system.
This new report analyzes the causes, impacts and solutions to climate change. It gives the clearest indication to date of how a warmer world is affecting all living things on Earth.
The document is a stark account of the ferocious consequences the world is already experiencing , such as an increasing number of people dying from heat.
But the authors say that there is still a short window of time to avoid the worst.
“One of the things that I think it’s very, very clear in the report that yes, things are bad, but really, the future depends on us, not on the climate,” said Helen Adams, lead author of the report, and a scientist at King’s College in London.
Analysis shows that extreme weather events related to climate change, such as floods and heat waves, are affecting humans and other species far more than assessments indicated above.
While everyone is affected, some are being hit much harder, depending on the region they live in.
Among 2010 and by example, 15 times more people died from floods, droughts, and storms in highly vulnerable regions – including parts of Central and South America, Africa, and South Asia – than in other parts of the world.
Coral reefs are bleaching and dying from rising temperatures, while many trees are succumbing to drought.
Scenarios
If the increase in temperatures reaches 1.5 °C above the levels of the decade of 1850 (exceeding the current 1.1°C), the continued and accelerated rise in sea level will affect increasingly to coastal settlements pushing them towards “immersion and loss”.
Mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue, will see an increase. (Photo: GETTY IMAGES)
Under all emissions scenarios, the IPCC expects an additional one billion people to be at risk from coastal-specific hazards in the coming decades.
If temperatures rise by 1.7° C and 1.8 °C, the report states that half of the human population could be exposed to periods of life-threatening weather conditions resulting from heat and humidity.
The Secretary General of the UN , Antonio Guterres, described the report as an “atlas of human suffering”, and said he had no doubt who is to blame.
“The facts are undeniable. This abdication of leadership is criminal. The biggest polluters in the world are guilty of the intentional fire in our only home”.
No to technological “solutions”
Diseases are likely to spread more rapidly in the coming decades, warn the authors of the study.
There is a particular risk that changing climatic conditions will facilitate the spread of dengue , transmitted by mosquitoes, to billions more by the end of this century.
In addition to impacts on physical health, for the first time the report asserts that climate change may be exacerbating health problems mental health, including stress and trauma related to extreme weather events and loss of livelihoods and culture.
Protest in Spain for the fa Act of action against climate change. (Photo: GETTY IMAGES)
When it comes to solving problems with technology, the report dismisses ideas such as deflecting the sun’s rays or removing carbon dioxide from the air, warning that they could make things worse.
The summary for policymakers focuses instead on “building climate resilience,” which the authors say contributes to building the strength needed to deal with climate change in every society.
“If our development paths are those in which health systems do not improve much, education does not improve much, our economies do not grow very fast and inequality is still a big problem, that is a world where part concrete climate change is going to have a really big impact”, emphasizes Brian O’Neill, author and main coordinator of the report.
“On the other hand, if it is a world in hen we are really making rapid progress in education, health and poverty, if climate change prevails in that society, the risk will be much lower”.
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