Source: China News Network
On August 10, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a report pointing out that unless greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced in the next few decades, global warming may exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius in the short term. The UN Secretary-General said the report was undoubtedly a resounding "wake-up call".
On August 5, local time, after the wildfire raged, a large number of buildings in the town of Greenville, California, were burned.
Ten years early! The Earth will heat up 1.5 degrees Celsius]
The report of working group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in Geneva, Switzerland, entitled Summary for PolicyMakers, was completed over many years by 234 scientists. Under all emission scenarios considered, "at least until the middle of this century, global surface temperatures will continue to rise," the report said.
The report predicts that around 2030, the average temperature on the Earth's surface will be 1.5 or 1.6 degrees Celsius higher than before the Industrial Revolution. That's a full 10 years earlier than the task force predicted three years ago (1.5 degrees Celsius warming in 2040).
The report stresses that unless carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions are drastically reduced in the coming decades, global warming will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius in the short term.
The report notes that many changes in the climate system are directly related to increasing global warming, including extreme heat, ocean heat waves, increased frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation, agricultural and ecological droughts in some areas, the scale of strong tropical cyclones, and the reduction of Arctic sea ice, snow cover and permafrost.
Climate change "is already affecting all regions of the globe and causing many extreme weather and climate events," the report said. In the coming decades and even centuries, climate change will bring more deadly heat waves, super hurricanes and other extreme weather.
Recently, the drought in many parts of the western United States has continued, and California is facing its worst drought since 1977. A canal in Salton, California, is almost scorched to dry, leaving only some toxic residue on the riverbed.
【"Deafening alarm bells"】
According to the U.N. website, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said the report was a "code red" issued to humanity. The alarm bells are arguably "deafening," and the evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are killing our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk. Global warming is affecting every region of the planet, and many of these changes are becoming irreversible.
"The world is already dangerously close to the internationally agreed ceiling that temperature rise should be controlled within 1.5 degrees Celsius," he said. We face an imminent risk of reaching 1.5 degrees Celsius in the short term. Only by stepping up efforts to embark on a most ambitious path can we avoid crossing this threshold. ”
Guterres stressed: "We must now act decisively to save the 1.5 degree Celsius target. ”
Finally, he said: "If we unite now, we can avoid climate catastrophe." But, as today's report makes clear, there is no time delay and no excuse. I pin my hopes on government leaders and all stakeholders to ensure the success of the Glasgow climate conference. ”