Global warming is rapidly taking the world by storm and the UN has declared the present times as “code red for humanity” after the most detailed assessment ever completed.
The announcement was made following the sixth assessment released today by the United Nation’s Inter-governmental Panel. India is also a part of the 195 countries, which form this panel. The climate change phenomenon is growing at an alarming speed, sending shivers down the spine of scientists who are constantly witnessing these changes across the planet in several locations.
As per experts, though global warming was a matter of concern for decades, the recent assessment highlighted the grave situation humans are in at the moment. This kind of global warming hasn’t been seen for a millennium longer. Factors contributing to the severity of the situation include,
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-Faster warming at almost every location in the world
-Long-term cooling reversed due to the warming
-Never witnessed before at this scale
Shockingly, the rising sea levels and climate change is irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years. However, the speed can be slowed down or rather limited if nations come together and agree to cut down major emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Yet, countries haven’t come forward for this.
If hypothetically, countries do give their word to reduce their emissions, it will take at least 20-30 years for global temperatures to stabilize, without increasing. The meeting to be held in Glasgow, UK, in the latter half of 2021 between all the 195 nations will witness their final decision. If the result comes positive, air quality at least will become much better during these 2-3 decades.
Speaking about IPCC’s assessment, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called it “code red for humanity”.
The climate change assessment contained 10 points that bring the triggering factors to light along with a glimpse of the current times.
- Global heat: Global warming is rapidly pacing towards the 1.5 degrees Celsius mark and will reach it in 2030. This is a decade earlier than what was estimated in 2018.
- Sea levels: Compared to 1901-1971’s sea level rise of 1.3 mm/year, years 2006-2018 saw more than a double increase with 3.7 mm/year. During 1901-2018, the global mean sea level rose by 0.20 (0.15 to 0.25) m.
- Heatwaves: Since the 1950s, hot extremes have become the norm with more frequent and intense episodes in almost every land area. Meanwhile, cold extremes have gone down significantly.
- Trigger factor: Humans seem to be the major contributors to climate change due to their actions.
- Urbanization: Several cities have become hotspots of heat as there is an absence of cooling areas including water and vegetation, which could disperse the trapped heat.
- Future: The years to come will witness frequent once-in-10 years and once-in-50-years events like heavy rain, droughts, and extreme heat.
- Forecasted changes: Affecting larger magnitude, new locations, at different timings with increased frequency are ready to take the centre stage as new combinations (two extreme episodes taking place together. For example- drought and extreme heat) will make its existence concrete.
- Cause: According to scientists, a specific cause cannot be established for every extreme episode as they differ from case to case. However, they have now found the level of human interference responsible for the magnitude and frequency of these events.
- Identifying ways to control climate change and improve air quality together will significantly enhance the situation as both are closely linked.
- It is possible to limit global warming by the end of this century, though it will require the combined efforts of all nations in reducing greenhouse gases, burning fossil fuels and carbon dioxide emissions immediately.
