UN Climate Change report flashes ‘code red’, global warming limit to be breached by 2040

Scientists are observing changes in the Earth’s climate in every region as per UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report, released on Monday. Many of the changes observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years, and some such as continued sea-level rise already set in motion, are irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years.

However, strong and sustained reductions in emissions of Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) and other greenhouse gases would limit climate change, the report suggests.

“This report is a reality check. We now have a much clearer picture of the past, present and future climate,” said IPCC Working Group I Co-Chair Dr Valérie Masson-Delmotte addressing a press conference. "If we reduce emissions to Net Zero by 2050, we can keep temperatures close to 1.5°C," she added.

Called the - 'Climate Change 2021: the Physical Science Basis', the report was approved on Friday by 195 member governments of the IPCC, through a virtual approval session that was held over two weeks starting on July 26. The Working Group I report is the first installment of IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), which is to be completed in 2022.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the IPCC report - the most detailed review of climate science ever conducted and termed it as a "code red for humanity", adding that "we must act decisively now to avert a climate catastrophe."

THE BAD NEWS?

The report provides new projections of the likelihood of crossing the global warming level of 1.5°C in the next few decades, and finds that until there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to close to 1.5°C or even 2°C will not be in control. For 1.5°C of global warming, there will be an increase in heat waves, longer warm seasons and shorter cold seasons. At 2°C of global warming, heat would cross critical tolerance thresholds for agriculture and health. 

The 3000-plus-page report further concludes that sea level rise is already accelerating and will continue to do so. Storms, heat waves are expected to worsen and become more frequent.

(Credit: IPCC)

THE (NOT SO) GOOD NEWS?

While many of the report’s predictions paint a morbid picture of humanity’s impact on Earth and the consequences going forward, the IPCC also found that tipping points, like catastrophic ice sheet collapses and the abrupt slowdown of ocean currents, are of ‘low likelihood’.

The report also shows that human actions still have the potential to determine the future course of climate.

“Stabilizing the climate will require strong, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and reaching net-zero CO₂ emissions. Limiting other greenhouse gases and air pollutants, especially methane, could have benefits both for health and the climate,” said IPCC Working Group I Co-Chair Panmao Zhai.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a UN body for assessing the science related to climate change. It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988.

(Image credit: AP)