‘Fossil fuels are choking humanity’: Major UN report sounds the alarm on climate impacts

TOPSHOT - A woman and child stand in a field as they watch wildfires as they burn in Koycegiz district of Mugla on August 3, 2021.

The world's leading climate scientists warned on Monday that human-caused climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature, with people and ecosystems least able to cope.

The report from the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, approved by 195 member states, makes clear that minor, reactive or incremental changes are not enough to tackle the climate emergency.

The analysis provides world leaders with a gold standard summary of modern climate science at a time when there are fears Russia's invasion of Ukraine could distract policymakers from taking coordinated action.

The world faces unavoidable climate dangers in the next two decades with global heating of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the warming level attributed as the aspirational target in the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement.

The report warns that even temporarily exceeding this critical threshold would result in additional severe impacts and there are large gaps between ongoing efforts to adapt and the action required to address the growing risks.

As current events make all too clear, our continued reliance on fossil fuels makes the global economy and energy security vulnerable to geopolitical shocks and crises.

The report looked at the impacts of the climate emergency on nature and people. It is the second of three major reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

I have seen many scientific reports in my time, but nothing like this. He had previously described the report as a code red for humanity.

The dependence on fossil fuels makes the global economy and energy security vulnerable to shocks and crises.

The report shows that coal and other fossil fuels are killing people.

Steam rises from cooling towers of the Niederaussem coal-fired power plant by twilight on January 11, 2022 in Niederaussem, Germany.

People's health, lives and livelihoods are being adversely affected by extreme weather events and slow-onset changes, according to the authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In the past year, the world has seen record-breaking heatwaves and wildfires in North America, flooding events in Europe and China, and a hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa.

John Kerry said the report paints a dire picture of the impacts already occurring because of a warmer world and the terrible risks to our planet if we continue to ignore.

The analysis shows that the climate emergency is already having a profound impact on humanity at 1.1 degrees Celsius of warming and underscores the global injustice of climate disasters.

Increased prevalence of heatwaves, droughts and floods are already exceeding plants and animals, and therefore driving mass mortalities in species such as trees and corals.

The report shows that climate change is a serious threat to our wellbeing. Our actions today will affect how people respond to climate risks.

cascading impacts that are increasingly difficult to manage are caused by extreme weather events. Millions of people in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and small island states have been exposed to food and water scarcity.

One of the things that I feel is most important to recognize around climate change is that this is one of the most predictable but also most preventable crises.

The report says rapid and deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions must be combined with accelerated action to adapt to the climate crisis.

The burning of fossil fuels is the main driver of the climate emergency.

Fossil fuels are a dead end for the planet, for humanity and for economies according to the U.N.'s Guterres. He says those in the private sector still financing coal must be held to account, as well as oil and gas giants.

He said that a prompt, well-managed transition to renewables is the only pathway to energy security, universal access and the green jobs our world needs.

The co-chair of the Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in a statement that healthy ecosystems are more resilient to climate change and provide life-critical services.

Society can benefit from nature's capacity to absorb and store carbon and accelerate progress towards sustainable development by restoring degraded ecosystems and effectively and equitably conserving 30 to 50 per cent of Earth's land, freshwater and ocean habitats.

The last point on climate finance is important. Climate justice is seen as an issue of climate finance. Low-income nations are expected to receive monetary support from high-income countries.

A key element of the Paris accord was a commitment by wealthier countries to provide low-income nations with $100 billion a year in climate finance by 2020. The pledge is not expected to be met until 2023.

The finance that has been made available to date falls far below the estimates of climate adaptation costs, and even more financing will be needed in the future as global heating intensify, according to the authors of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

A woman is seen standing in her submerged house in October, 2021. Thailand has faced flash floods due to the heavy rainfall, tidal bore, and water drainage from Chao Phraya Dam after Dianmu Storm hit the country.

Failure to adapt will cost lives. It will cost lives if climate finance is not fair. Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Republic of the Marshall Islands, said that dependence on fossil fuels will cost lives.

A failure to act is inhuman and unconscionable.

The U.N.'s Guterres said that scaling up investments in adaptation will be essential for survival and that the COP26 commitment on adaptation funding was not enough to meet the challenges faced.

50% of the total share of climate finance should be spent on resilience measures and adapting to the effects of a warming world.

Climate scientists said that the climate emergency interacts with global trends such as the unsustainable use of natural resources, growing urbanization, social inequalities and losses from extreme events. Future development is threatened by these trends.

The scientific evidence is irrefutable, and any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable.

The report makes it hard to read. If swift and bold action is taken to address the crisis, some of the worst-case scenarios can still be avoided.

An increasing body of evidence shows that we can lower the risks of climate change by protecting nature and rebuilding it.

It suggests that restoring wetlands and other natural habitats along flood plains can reduce flood risk and that cities can be cooled by parks and ponds.

The report says that relying on nature alone won't be enough. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and a wide range of actions to transform the way we live are both required to increase climate resilience.

One of the things that I feel is most important to recognize around climate change is that this is one of the most predictable but also most preventable crises.

If there is good news, it is that solutions exist, Shuckburgh said.

Extinction Rebellion climate activists take part in a Rise and Rebel march organised to coincide with the end of, and anticipated failure of, the COP26 climate summit on 13th November 2021 in London, United Kingdom.

Michael Marmot, professor of epidemiology at University College London, said during the same briefing that he doesn't see the changes we have to make to create a better plant as negative.

We should be grateful to grasp the opportunity to create a healthier planet and a fair society.

The latest climate literature is reviewed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change every few years. Its first major report was published in 1990.

The physical science basis of climate change was the focus of the first part of the report. The findings made it clear that limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius would be beyond reach without immediate and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

The third edition of the assessment cycle of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will focus on methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and remove them from the atmosphere. It will be published in early April.

The Synthesis Report combines the findings of each of the three previous installments of the Sixth Assessment Report. This is going to be published in September.