The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a report to CNN that in the next 12 years the planet’s temperature will rise 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. The report was released on Oct. 8.
This will advance the risk of natural disasters such as droughts, wildfires and floods, along with food shortages.
This is expected to happen by 2030, this date was determined by current levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
Andrew King, a lecturer in climate science at the University of Melbourne, said in a statement to CNN:
“This is concerning because we know there are so many more problems if we exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming, including more heatwaves and hot summers, greater sea level rise and, for many parts of the world, worse droughts and rainfall extremes.”
CNN reported that in order to plateau the progress of the warming, global net emissions of carbon dioxide would need to fall by 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030.
In order to lower emissions to this degree, it would require a worldwide shift in the way energy, industry, buildings, transportation and cities are operated, King’s report concluded.
If you thought global warming was a myth up until this moment, this is your invitation to wake up and look at the data.
These aren’t allegations, hearsay or opinions. This is scientific research. The earth is at risk, and we will most likely see the effects of it in our lifetime.
Just because it still gets cold outside, doesn’t mean global warming is disproved.
Vox reported that global warming refers to the rise in the average temperature of the Earth’s climate.
“Many climate models suggest we’ll still see record cold snaps in the United States as the planet heats up. They’ll just become less frequent over time — while record heat waves will become increasingly common,” the Vox report said.
In our lifetime, the Environmental Defense Fund found that our daily lives could be changed due to climate change.
We could see some of the things we know and love, like the production of coffee and beer become affected, as well as an increase in grocery prices, homeowners will become uninsurable due to storm damages, the beautiful western trees from Colorado to Washington will die and dry out, the coral reefs will die and accessible drinking water will be at risk.
President Donald Trump isn’t helping in the case of climate change, because he pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
The purpose of the agreement was for 197 countries to keep global temperatures under two degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to one and a half degrees celsius.
So, because our president doesn’t seem to take this issue serious, we need to.
We can start by small changes, because small changes are better than no changes at all.
Limit your meat intake, carpool to work, stop using plastic straws and bring reusable bags to the grocery store.
Leave this world better for not only our future generations, but for ourselves. The year 2030 is closer than we all think it is, so lets do something proactive to stop the progression of climate change.
