IPCC: "Some impacts of climate change are now irreversible"

BUT THE FUTURE'S IN OUR HANDS

According to devastating new findings in the International Panel of Climate Change's latest report, many impacts of climate change due to past and future greenhouse gas emissions are now impossible to stop. We already know that climate change is already affecting every region on Earth, in multiple ways - plants, animals and entire ecosystems are on the move as rising temperatures force species to seek out cooler climes and the climate is influencing important stages in their annual life cycle, like migration or mating. Currently in the news there are reports of the deaths of migrating storks crossing Greece where they're disoriented by the wildfires - just one example of the suffering experienced by wild and domestic animals. Extreme sea level events which used to occur once in a 100 years could now happen annually; arctic sea ice, glaciers and ice sheets will all be lost due to permafrost thawing and climate change is intensifying the water cycle, leading to increased rainfall and flooding as well as intense drought in other regions. However, the report notes that there is hope.

The IPCC report states that whilst the changes we're already experiencing will increase with additional warming and human activities have been responsible for around 1.1°C of global warming since the turn of the nineteenth century, we can also still determine the future course of the climate and the health of planet, if we act decisively NOW.

The panel has laid out the necessary steps that must be taken to mitigate climate change and has highlighted that if these are not taken, preventing global warming levels from surpassing 1.5°C over the coming decades will be impossible."1.5% is achievable but it's retreating fast." The report reveals that heavy reductions in global carbon emissions would limit climate change overall; with air quality improving rapidly and global temperatures taking between 20 to 30 years to stabilise.

Reacting to the landmark UN climate report, Connor Schwartz, Climate Lead at Friends of the Earth, said: "Every fraction of a degree now matters more than ever. Loud wake-up calls have been sounding for years but world leaders have chronically over-slept and people are paying the price with their lives. If we want a habitable planet, the window is just about still open, that's today's report in a nutshell."

Our biggest threat is inaction. We need to take personal responsibility and do what we can. Reaching net zero carbon emissions is essential to keeping global warming to a specific level. Net zero could limit the frequency of extreme sea level events, flooding and extremely high temperatures in parts of the planet and the removal of human carbon emissions could lead to a reversal of ocean acidification and the stabilisation of temperatures in the coming decades. As well as carbon emissions, methane emissions need to decrease as they impact the amount of heat coming in and out of the atmosphere, thus affecting the formation of clouds.

The IPCC Working Group I Co-Chair Valerie Masson-Delmotte stating: "This report is a reality check. We now have a much clearer picture of the past, present and future climate, which is essential for understanding where we are headed, what can be done and how we can prepare."

The future really is in our hands and we need the governments attending COP26 to lead the way and act in extraordinary ways.