IPCC’s climate change study — this is what we’re doing to the planet.

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — a group of scientists that are endorsed by the world’s governments) released a landmark study yesterday, warning of increasingly extreme heatwaves, droughts and flooding, and a key temperature limit being broken in just over a decade.

The UN chief said it is “a code red for humanity”; in other words, we are not doomed but if we don’t act fast, we will be. There is no longer time for delay or excuses and governments need to act decisively at the upcoming COP26 summit in Glasgow this September.

The report is the first major review of the science of climate change since 2013. The main observation is that humans are unequivocally the cause of the unsustainable warming of the planet and subsequent climate change effects. The report states that since 1970, global surface temperatures have risen faster than in any 50-year period over the last 2000 years.

Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation, said: “By using sports terms, one could say the atmosphere has been exposed to doping, which means we have begun observing extremes more often than before.”

IPCC Report Key Points:

● Global surface temperature was 1.09C higher in the decade between 2011–2020 than between 1850–1900.

● The past five years have been the hottest on record since 1850

● The recent rate of sea level rise has nearly tripled compared with 1901–1971

● Human influence is “very likely” (90%) the main driver of the global retreat of glaciers since the 1990s and the decrease in Arctic sea-ice

● It is “virtually certain” that hot extremes including heatwaves have become more frequent and more intense since the 1950s, while cold events have become less frequent and less severe

With rising temperatures, negative consequences for humans and animals will keep coming. The oceans will become more acidic, effecting marine life and thus humans, glaciers will continue to melt, rising sea levels will flood entire coastal communities, and fires will continue to rage — destroying precious vegetation, homes and habitats. There will also be an increase in heavy rainfall events and droughts in some parts of the world, exacerbating world hunger.

Five future impacts

● Temperatures will reach 1.5C above 1850–1900 levels by 2040 under all emissions scenarios

● The Arctic is likely to be practically ice-free in September at least once before 2050 in all scenarios assessed

● There will be an increasing occurrence of some extreme events “unprecedented in the historical record” even at warming of 1.5C

● Extreme sea level events that occurred once a century in the recent past is projected to occur at least annually at more than half of tidal gauge locations by 2100

● There will be likely increases in fire weather in many regions

Written by: Claire Carlisle

Edited by: Amber Howells