That’s the headline message of a report released Monday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Scientists have been banging this drum for decades and so has the IPCC.
Monday’s report is a critical update to a long-standing message.
“But now we’ve got more data, more models, more details.”
Its last major assessment report was published in 2014, with theWorking Group I report published a year prior.
The crisis is already forcing a rethink in all aspects of human life.
Athletes suffered from sweltering heat and humidity, with archers collapsing and tennis players wheeled off court.
In recent years, unprecedented bushfires have blazed across Australia’s east coast and America’s west.
We’vebegun to see more hurricanes and cyclonesalong withextreme rainfall eventsandretreating ice, snow and permafrost cover.
With increasing global temperatures, the data shows these types of events will increase in frequency and intensity.
The report considers five scenarios or “climate futures.”
The 1 degree Celsius increase also forms a base level for estimating change in the lowest-emissions scenarios.
Just to prevent further damage, this scenario requires a steep and rapid drop in carbon emissions.
Other scenarios, where carbon emissions aren’t immediately curtailed, project a more grim outlook.
Although 2 to 4 degrees of warming may not seem like a big increase, the impacts are far-reaching.
“I think the last [report] was fairly urgent,” notes Alexander.
“This one’s even more urgent.
What’s next?
The IPCC’s role is not to prescribe policy, but to inform decision making by governments.
The first, published in 2018, examined how to meeta global warming target of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“That happens in the next report.”
