What does the recent United Nations’ report on climate change say about its effects?
Climate change is an issue that has been worrying many people throughout the years, but there's some individuals that still refuse to believe in it, and argue that the changes that we are experiencing today are the consequences of a natural cycle of the earth. However, the recent report on climate change of the United Nations completely changes the panorama, by analysing how we got to this point, and what comes next.
According to the report, climate change is widespread, rapid and it is intensifying. Scientists are observing changes in the earth's climate in all regions and in the climate system as a whole, and the reports show that all these changes that are already taking place, such as sea-level rise, would not be reversible for several centuries or millennia.
This report also explains the responsibility that humans have had on climate change by making important statements such as establishing that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land, and that observed increases in greenhouse gases concentration since 1750 are unequivocally caused by human activities. The scientific data backs up all of these affirmations, like the fact that each of the last four decades has been successively warmer than any decade that preceded it since 1850. To complement this, scientists carried out different simulations that show a model of global warming with and without human activities, that only continue to prove the fault that we have on what's happening today.
The report also shows that we're already living in the consequences of climate change, by exposing that it is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe, and there is evidence of observed changes in extremes such as heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts, and tropical cyclones.
Nevertheless, scientists are optimistic that with a substantial and sustained reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases climate change can be limited, but most important, by fulfilling the goals of the United Nations, that affirms that if we reduce global emissions by half by 2030 and we reach net-zero emissions by 2050 it is possible to stop the rising temperatures.
This is our last chance to do things right, and it is the goal of this report to change things on a small and big scale, by promoting action of every individual, but also by being a guide for policy makers and showing the marks for events like COP26 that took place this November. In conclusion, even if the data is alarming, we are not past the point of no return, but it is imperative to take action now.
By Manuela Orozco, Step 11
