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In a report that serves as a dire warning, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its comprehensive analysis of the climate crisis Monday, outlining unprecedented changes to the climate and the threat they place on the planet in the immediate future.
With more than 200 scientists from more than 60 countries contributing, the report lays the blame for global warming on human greenhouse gas emissions and the climate crisis on human activities, noting that humans are already responsible for a 1.1-degree Celsius warming since the 19th century.
“It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land,” the report says in clear terms.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the report a “code red for humanity,” demanding leaders in government, business, and civil society unite “behind policies, actions and investments that will limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” the threshold, scientists warn, before the most catastrophic effects are seen.
“Global heating is affecting every region on Earth, with many of the changes becoming irreversible,” Guterres said.
Scientists observed that the warming is happening faster than previously thought, with the latest projections seeing the earth exceeding a 1.5 degree Celsius rise within the next decade or two.
Surpassing that mark could lead to worsening climate catastrophes and changes to the Earth’s ecosystems.
The study's authors urge a strong and sustained reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases, which would have immediate benefits to air quality, but take between 20 to 30 years to stabilize global temperatures.
More IPCC reports are coming in the next year and are expected to contain more detail on specific climate impacts and ways to ease them.
