READ OFFICIAL IPCC PRESS RELEASE
A major report from the United Nations scientific panel on climate change, released October 1st, 2018, paints a dire picture of the future. Avoiding climate change will require transforming the global economy at a speed and scale "that has no documented historic precedent.” The report describes the effects of climate change: a world of worsening food shortages, wildfires, increased hurricanes and super storms, and the mass die off of coral reefs as soon as 2040 — a period well within the lifetime of the global population.
The report “is quite a shock, and quite concerning,” said Bill Hare, an author of previous I.P.C.C. reports and a physicist with Climate Analytics, a nonprofit organization. “We were not aware of this just a few years ago.” The report was the first to be commissioned by world leaders under the Paris agreement, the 2015 pact by nations to fight global warming. (New York Times).
The authors of the report found that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate, the atmosphere will warm up by as much as 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius), above preindustrial levels by 2040, flooding coastlines and intensifying droughts and global poverty. Previous work had focused on estimating the damage if average temperatures were to rise by a larger number, 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius), because that was the threshold scientists previously considered for the most severe effects of climate change.
The truth is that humanity is already living in the middle of dramatic human caused climate change. But action is needed before the situation gets infinitely worse.
NEWS ABOUT THE REPORT
Key global warming target slipping out of reach, UN scientists warn (Axios, 10-8-18)
UN climate change panel says 'unprecedented' action needed to prevent rapid global warming (CNBC, 10-7-18)
Major Climate Report Describes a Strong Risk of Crisis as Early as 2040 (New York Times, 10-7-18)
Trump administration sees a 7-degree rise in global temperatures by 2100 (Washington Post, 9-28-18)
UN Secretary General addresses Climate Change (Climate Adaptation Resiliency and Enhancement of Samoa, 9-9-18)
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