IPCC report warns of irreversible impact of global warming causing dangerous disruption

Climate change, a grave and mounting threat to humanity and an ‘irreversible’ impact of global warming is causing “dangerous and widespread disruption” to millions worldwide, a new report published by UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on February 28 warned. Despite the numerous efforts to reduce the risks of global warming on the ecosystems, it is being hardest hit, said scientists, further warning that the world must brace up to multiple climate hazards over the next two decades.

The world is now heating up with record global warming of 1.5°C (2.7°F) and increased heat waves, droughts and floods, earthquakes and other natural calamities are already surpassing the tolerance thresholds, the report stated. Released by the United Nations' chief climate science organization, the document titled "Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability," was approved by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on Feb. 27. A previous such report on the science of climate change was released in August 2021. 

"I have seen many scientific reports in my time, but nothing like this," said António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations during a press conference as he introduced the report. "Today's IPCC report is an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership. This report reveals all people on the planet are getting clobbered by climate change."

Still time to avert the ‘worst-case' scenario

Millions of people worldwide will be subjected to acute food and water insecurity, especially in Africa, Asia, Central, and South America, on Small Islands, and in the Arctic. The weather extremes are also occurring simultaneously, which will be “increasingly difficult to manage.” But there’s still time to avert the ‘worst-case' scenario, said the scientists in the IPCC report.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that animals and humans as species are being pushed much beyond their abilities to adapt to the existing conditions. About 40% of the world’s population is now "highly vulnerable" to climate change and there is a dire need to maintain the temperature below 1.5C. But so far, said the scientists in the grim report, the progress on adaptation has been uneven, and there are increasing gaps between action taken by countries worldwide. 

"When we look at the evidence, it's increasingly clear that the pace of adaptation across the globe is not enough to keep up with the pace of climate change," said Mark Howden, a climate scientist and vice chair of the IPCC's Working Group II.

Although the average global temperatures were temporarily cooled by the 2020-2022 La Niña events, the past two years have been the warmest years on record according to the UN. The warmest seven years have all been since 2015, with 2016, 2019, and 2020. The average global temperature in 2021 was about 1.11 (0.13) °C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels. And the global warming and other long-term climate change trends are expected to continue as a result of record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, six leading international datasets consolidated by the World Meteorological Organization to United Nations revealed. 

Working Group II report on climate change is the second installment of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), which will be completed this year, 2022. 

“People’s health, lives, and livelihoods, as well as property and critical infrastructure, including energy and transportation systems, are being increasingly adversely affected by hazards from heatwaves, storms, drought and flooding as well as slow-onset changes, including sea-level rise,” the IPCC report warned. Cities that already experience poorly planned urban growth, high levels of poverty and unemployment, and a lack of basic services are on the path to face more hazardous climate change impacts climate change scientist Debra Roberts said in the report. 

People’s lives are at risk due to increasing greenhouse gas emissions and there’s an urgent need to adapt to green buildings, reliable supplies of clean water and renewable energy, and sustainable transport systems. The report emphasizes on the urgency of immediate and more ambitious action to address climate risks. “Half measures are no longer an option in 2022,” it warns.