Climate crisis
The global data on biodiversity loss might give the sense that every single species’ population is in danger. The majority of populations are either constant or increasing, whereas just a few species actually confront significant difficulties.
Key Points
The production of coal, oil, and gas results in the annual emission of billions of tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. With no indications of slowing down, human activity is creating greenhouse gas emissions at historic levels. A ten-year review of UNEP Emission Gap assessments shows that we are on pace to continue on our current course.
The four warmest years on record occurred in the previous four years. We are near to what experts say would be “an intolerable risk,” according to World Meteorological Organization (WMO) assessment, and we are at least one degree Celsius over preindustrial levels.
According to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, global warming should be kept “far below” two degrees Celsius, and efforts should be made to keep it even lower, at 1.5 degrees. However, if we don’t reduce global emissions, temperatures may increase by more than three degrees Celsius by 2100, further harming our ecosystems irreparably.
Sea levels are already rising as a result of the melting of glaciers and ice sheets in arctic and mountainous areas. Over 40% of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometres of a coast, and nearly two-thirds of cities with a population of over five million people are situated in areas at risk of sea level rise.
Millions of people might be forced to relocate if nothing is done about entire districts of New York, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, Osaka, Rio de Janeiro, and many more cities become submerged during our lifetimes.
WATER AND FOOD SECURITY
Food and water security are impacted by global warming for everyone. The quantity of carbon that the earth can hold in its soil is limited by climate change, which is a direct cause of soil degradation. Today, up to 30% of food is lost or wasted while 500 million people live in locations where there is erosion. Climate change also reduces the quantity and quality of water that is available for agriculture and drinking.
Food security is becoming increasingly uncertain as many places struggle to maintain crops that have flourished for millennia. These effects often affect the weak and impoverished the most. The economic gap between the richest and poorest nations in the globe is predicted to widen due to global warming.
MODERN EXTREMES
Extreme weather events and related disasters have long been a feature of our planet’s climate system. But as the earth heats, they are happening more frequently and intensely. Heatwaves, droughts, typhoons, and storms leave no continent unaffected as they wreak havoc on whole continents.
Today, weather and climate are considered to be the primary causes of 90% of disasters. These events cost the global economy 520 billion USD year and cause 26 million people to fall into poverty.
A CONFLICT CATALYST
A serious danger to world peace and security is climate change. Due to increased competition for resources like land, food, and water, socioeconomic tensions are heightened and mass evictions are becoming common as a result of climate change.
Climate is a risk multiplier that exacerbates current problems. Political upheaval and bloodshed are directly influenced by droughts in Latin America and Africa. In Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia, the World Bank predicts that more than 140 million people would be compelled to move within their areas by 2050 if nothing is done.
A FUTURE PATH
Although science has proven that climate change is real, it has also shown that it is still possible to stop the tide. This will necessitate major changes in all facets of civilization, including how we cultivate food, utilise land, move commodities, and drive our economy.
While technology has played a part in climate change, new and effective technologies can help us cut net emissions and make the world a better place. More than 70% of today’s emissions currently have readily accessible technical alternatives. Electric automobiles are about to enter the mainstream, and renewable energy is now the cheapest energy source in many locations.
Nature-based solutions provide us “breathing room” while we work to decarbonize our economy in the meantime. With the help of these solutions, we can reduce some of our carbon footprint while also promoting important ecosystem functions including biodiversity, freshwater access, better livelihoods, and food security. Improved farming methods, land restoration, conservation, and the greening of food supply chains are a few examples of nature-based solutions.
We can all advance to a future that is cleaner and more robust thanks to scalable new technology and solutions derived from nature. We can build a green future where suffering is reduced, justice is preserved, and peace between people and the world is once again possible if governments, corporations, civil society, youth, and academics together.
