Climate Change: ‘Code Red For Humanity’ – Says 6th Assessment Report Of the United Nations’ Inter-governmental Panel
The sixth assessment report of the United Nations’ Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, India, is one of the 195 members, was issued on Monday. According to scientists, changes in the Earth’s climate are being witnessed in every region and across the whole climate system. Some of the current effects, such as continuous sea-level rise, will be irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the IPCC’s assessment – the most detailed review of climate science ever conducted – “code red for humanity.”
As per the scientists over the next few decades, India and the subcontinent are expected to experience more heatwaves and droughts and more rainfall events and cyclonic activity.
Climate Change report
For the Indian subcontinent, the report says, “the observed mean surface temperature increase has clearly emerged out of the range of internal variability compared to 1850-1900. Heat extremes have increased while cold extremes have decreased, and these trends will continue over the coming decades.”
Dr. Friederike Otto, who is the Associate Director of the Environment Change Institute, University of Oxford and also one of the authors for the reports, also said, “For India, increase in heatwaves is marked by other emissions like aerosol emissions. If there is a reduction in aerosols, we will see a further increase in heat waves,”
According to the report, climate change is expected to worsen across regions in the decades to come. It is also said that the 1.5°C of global warming will result in more heatwaves, longer warm seasons, and shorter cold seasons. Heat extremes would be more likely to surpass crucial tolerance thresholds for agriculture and health at 2°C of global warming.
The world has already experienced a gist of the ill effects of global warming. Wildfires are currently blazing in Greece, causing hundreds of people to flee their homes; fires are also raging in Turkey and California in the United States. Western Europe also experienced its worst flooding in decades this summer, with hundreds of people killed.
“We can’t afford to wait two years, five years, ten years – this is the moment,” Mr. Alok Sharma, climate chief of the UK government, told the Observer.
Many influencers like Doug Parr, chief scientist with Greenpeace UK, Alok Sharma, and more are urging the world leaders to put the climate issue at the utmost priority because the consequences for humanity would be catastrophic if immediate action is not taken.
