BY JOSEPH MASILAMANY
AS HUGE GLACIAL ice bodies melt, a harsh new climate report pointedly highlights that the impact of climate change is literally racing across to our doorsteps as sea levels are rising much faster than expected.
The report by the United Nations-led Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), however, says: “It is still not too late for the global community to undertake mitigating action which must urgently be put into place now.”
[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ]The report which details the newest understanding of climate change, its causes, how it will continue to impact humans, animal and plant life and what world communities could do about it – was released at a meeting of scientists and policymakers in Monaco close on the heels of the UN Climate Action Summit in New York.
Although the 42-page report authored by 100 scientists from 30 countries starkly pointed out just how costly it would be if action is delayed, it failed to elicit any “sense of nervousness” among the world’s biggest polluters who were present at the UN summit.
According to the report, if emissions continue to increase, global sea levels could rise by more than three feet by the end of this century — about 12 per cent higher than the group estimated as recently as 2013. Melting glaciers could harm water supplies, and warming oceans could wreck marine fisheries.
“As a result of excess greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the ocean today is higher, warmer, more acidic, less productive and holds less oxygen,” the report pointed out. It said: “The warming climate is killing coral reefs, supercharging monster storms, and fueling deadly marine heatwaves and record losses of sea ice. The effect on the world’s oceans, glaciers, polar regions and foreshadow a more catastrophic future as long as greenhouse gas emissions remain reported Monday, was tied for the second-lowest on record.
• Marine animals are likely to decrease 15 per cent, and catches by fisheries in general are expected to decline 21 per cent to 24 per cent, by the end of century because of climate change. “The climate emergency is a race we are losing — but it is a race we can win if we change our ways now,” UN Secretary General António Guterres told world leaders at the New York Summit in his latest attempt to spur action.
“Even our language has to adapt: What once was called ‘climate change’ is now truly a ‘climate crisis.’ … We are seeing unprecedented temperatures, unrelenting storms and undeniable science,” he added.[/ihc-hide-content]
