If for some reason you missed the opening of the summit on climate change in new York September 23, and emotional performance of young eco-activist Greta Thunberg, don’t worry, because we will tell you about the most important — the last report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change (MGIC) under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), which is dedicated to current problems of the oceans on our planet. The report deals with the extreme sea-level rise, which used to happen once in a hundred years, but also about how glaciers and ice sheets of the planet will respond to global warming.
Numerous storms and hurricanes are just some of the effects of global warming
Climate change is happening right now
In the IPCC report, prepared by over 100 scientists from more than 80 countries, examines the impact of climate change on the oceans of our planet, covering 71% of the Earth’s surface, as well as the glaciers and ice sheets. According to Neryl Abram from the Australian national University, our planet is changing rapidly from the mountain tops to the depths of the oceans and the polar regions.
23 September in new York hosted the UN summit devoted to climate change. The summit will be remembered most due to emotional speech 16-year-old Greta Thunberg, who a year ago refused to attend school on Friday due to global warming. During the summit, scientists urged heads of state to take decisive action against rapid climate change. The pressure on the two leaders also should have the next summit on climate change in Monaco and Chile.
It Greta Thunberg at the UN summit in new York
This is the third report of the IPCC, devoted to the problems of climate change over the past year. In the summer the group published a report on the problems of excessive use of land for agricultural purposes, and last year a report was published on the limiting temperature increase to 1.5 °C. More details on previously published reports can be found on our news Telegram-channel.
The effects of global warming
Until now, the oceans absorbed 90% of the heat, but because of climate change by 2100 will absorb 5-7 times more heat if carbon emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere will not be reduced. The global rise in temperature restricts the mixing of water layers in the ocean and, thus, reduces the amount of oxygen and nutrients that affect the lives of the inhabitants of the ocean depths. The report also projected an increase in the number of extremely hot days, according to scientists, is already adversely affecting the fisheries.
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Climate change has already caused irreparable harm to the ecosystems of our planet
Also, experts predict a rise in sea level that will occur no less than twice per year by 2050 in some parts of the world, especially in the tropics, and not once in a century, as it was in the past. The IPCC report notes that by 2050 one billion people will live in low-lying coastal areas, compared with 680 million today. Thus, sea-level rise and its associated effects threaten the lives and livelihoods of a significant part of the population. Although it may seem that the extra 10 cm is not too much, Michael Meredith of the British Antarctic Agency says that even in developed countries these changes are serious and require an additional coastal protection. For poorer countries the solution to these problems may be far more complex.
This is interesting: Our civilization may disappear in 2050
Scientists who participated in the drafting of the report, noted that glaciers continue to shrink rapidly around the world. Under the most pessimistic scenarios, by 2100 they will lose more than a third of its weight, and some completely disappear. Such losses will create inevitable problems for the billions of inhabitants of our planet. Experts also noted that if emissions remain at the same level, the area of permafrost could shrink to 69% by the year 2100. Note that in 2018, mankind has released 37,1 gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
How to avoid climate change?
During the summit, scientists have stated that we have two variants of development of events. If we can take action to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we can limit the degree of change in these parts of the climate system in the future and the impact on people and ecosystems.
The melting of glaciers is one of the most acute problems facing humanity
However, our failure to reduce emissions will make the task incredibly complex. Even if we manage to limit temperature increase to 2 °C, as the country promised in the Paris agreement on climate, in the recent IPCC report States that there is 35% probability that the Arctic is completely ice-free until 2100. So, our desire for a beautiful life, by the consumption of an unlimited number of different products that could destroy our civilization.
What do you think, would react if the world’s leaders on the statements of scientists?