The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

The UN publishes a devastating assessment on the effects of climate change in the coming years

2021-08-09T12:29:44.571Z


A new report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change notes that many of the effects of global warming, especially in the oceans and the polar zones "are irreversible for centuries or millennia."


By Denise Chow and Helena Skinner - NBC News

Climate change is causing "unprecedented" Earth change in thousands - and in some cases, hundreds of thousands - of years, according to an overwhelming report released by the United Nations on Monday.

The assessment revealed that some changes that are already taking place, such as warming oceans and rising sea levels, are already

"irreversible for centuries or millennia

.

"

[Biden pledges to cut US carbon emissions in half by 2030 as part of the Paris climate pact]

The report is the most comprehensive assessment of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2013 and offers the strongest data to date on human-caused global warming, arguing that it is "unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, the ocean and the land "

The document also revealed that climate change is intensifying, is developing at an accelerated rate and is already affecting all regions of the planet.

"It has been clear for decades that the Earth's climate is changing, and the role of human influence on the climate system is indisputable," said Valérie Masson-Delmotte, co-chair of IPCC Working Group I, in a statement.

The IPCC, established in the late 1980s, is made up of thousands of scientists from 195 governments who carefully analyze the most recent published and peer-reviewed research on global warming and compile the findings into a report on the current state of the climate. .

Firefighters fighting the Dixie fire clear Highway 89 after a burned tree fell across the road in Plumas County, Calif., Friday, Aug. 6, 2021.AP Photo / Noah Berger

The assessment, which includes a study on the future risks and impacts of climate change, generally has a consensus within the scientific community.

More than 230 authors contributed to the latest report.

The assessment comes less than three months before world leaders meet October 31-November 12 in Glasgow, Scotland, for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Countries are expected to set targets ambitious to reduce emissions by 2030, and the IPCC's findings will likely be brought to the table during discussions.

[Why do the waters of this lake in El Salvador change color?]

The report notes that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have caused global warming at a rate not seen in at least the last 2,000 years.

Human-caused climate change is estimated to be responsible for about 1.1 degrees Celsius of warming from 1850-1900, the earliest period with reliable measurements of global surface temperatures, the authors wrote.

Planet Earth: Why are natural resources depleted and how to consume responsibly?

Aug. 1, 202103: 26

Furthermore, the report indicates that global temperatures are expected to exceed 2 degrees Celsius warming in this century "unless there are profound reductions in [carbon dioxide] and other greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades." .

"This report is a reality check," Masson-Delmotte said in the statement.

"

We now have a much clearer picture of the climate past, present and future

, which is essential to understand where we are going, what can be done and how we can prepare," he added.

[Warning, the layer of snow that covers the Andes is getting thinner!]

Climate scientists have warned that the rise in mean global temperature should be limited to less than 2 degrees Celsius to avoid the most devastating effects of global warming.

The two-degree benchmark was set by climate negotiators in Copenhagen in 2009, but studies indicate that the target may already be out of reach.

The new IPCC assessment goes further than any of the group's previous reports by linking human-caused climate change with the increase in extreme weather events around the world.

"It is virtually certain that warm extremes (including heat waves) have become more frequent and intense in most regions of the world since the 1950s, while cold extremes (including cold waves) have become less frequent and less severe, "the authors wrote, adding that human-caused global warming is the" main driver "of those changes.

The report also details how rising ocean and surface temperatures will cause countless changes on the planet, with droughts, heat waves, heavy rains and coastal flooding in different regions.

[Heat wave exacerbates California drought, leaving entire community without water]

The assessment is part of the IPCC's latest summary on climate change, called the Sixth Assessment Report or AR6, to be published next year. The full report consists of four sections: the report of Working Group I on the science of climate change; the report of Working Group II on vulnerabilities and socio-economic impacts; the report of Working Group III on possible ways to mitigate climate change; and the Synthesis Report, which reviews the conclusions of all the working groups and integrates relevant information for politicians.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2021-08-09

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.