What you need to know about the IPCC climate report
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It serves as a rescue plan to combat climate change: the IPCC climate report. This report is released once every 5 to 7 years, and this year was another one. The world's top scientists researched the current status of the climate and laid out urgent action items for policymakers to combat climate change. We summarized it for you... Hold on tight!
Time for action
It's another alarming report from IPCC, with a clear message: limiting global warming to 1.5°C is getting out of sight... Unless we take more action. The next few years will be decisive in this regard.
An IPCC spokesperson says; "We now have a much clearer picture of climate in the past, present and future, which is essential to understanding where we are going, what we can do and how we can prepare."
Faster warming
The report found that Earth's climate is changing dramatically. That in itself is no surprise. Currently, global warming is 1.1 °C compared to 1850-1900. In the next 20 years, warming is even expected to reach 1.5 °C or more.
This is mainly due to excessive emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases. Total greenhouse gas emissions in the decade from 2011 to 2020 have never been higher. If action is not taken now, quickly and on a large scale, global warming in most parts of the world will head toward 5°C (!). We cannot sugarcoat it. This is a worrying message, as it has catastrophic consequences for life on earth.
Fortunately, the solution is clear: strong and sustained reductions in emissions. The air quality benefits will soon be felt, only it may take 20 to 30 years for global temperatures to stabilize.
What are the consequences of warming?
According to the report, climate change will increase in all regions in the coming decades. At 1.5 °C of global warming, there will be increasing heat waves, longer hot seasons and shorter cold seasons. At 2 °C of warming, extreme heat will more often threaten agriculture and health.
But climate change goes beyond temperature. It brings a range of change in different regions. Consider changes in coastal areas and oceans, in wetness and drought, and in wind, snow and ice. This can lead to catastrophic situations such as:
- severe drought
- intense rainfall
- floods
- rising sea levels
- ocean acidification
- melting glaciers and ice caps
For the first time, the report also provides a more detailed regional assessment of climate change. This explains in concrete terms what these changes mean for (specific) societies and ecosystems. You can read this information on the IPCC site.
Hope for the future
Many countries have long said that the climate crisis is high on their agenda and that they want to do everything they can to counter it. This sounds hopeful, but unfortunately in practice things look different. Actual actions and measures have been scarce to date.
One obvious solution is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by switching to renewable energy sources. In this, solar and wind power emerge as the best options in both price and feasibility. The handles are there, as the report clearly indicates which energy methods can deliver what, at what price and how feasible it is.
In short, the negative climate effects of greenhouse gases are in full swing. They are only expected to increase unless we act now and switch to sustainable solutions such as green energy. The solutions are there, but policymakers need to implement them to minimize the climate crisis. It will be exciting, but we hold out hope!
