Humans to blame for out of control global warming, says UN report

Earth’s climate is getting so hot that temperatures in about a decade will probably blow past a level of warming that world leaders have sought to prevent, according to a report released on Monday that the United Nations called a “code red for humanity.”

The United Nations panel on climate change told the world that global warming was dangerously close to being out of control — and that humans were “unequivocally” to blame.

Already, greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere are high enough to guarantee climate disruption for decades if not centuries, the report from the scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on climate Change (IPCC) warned.

“It’s just guaranteed that it’s going to get worse,” said report co-author Linda Mearns, a senior climate scientist at the US National Centre for Atmospheric Research. “Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.” But scientists also eased back a bit on the likelihood of the absolute worst climate catastrophes.

The authoritative IPCC report, which calls climate change clearly human-caused and “unequivocal,” makes more precise and warmer forecasts for the 21st century than it did last time it was issued in 2013.

Children hold placards during a global climate change strike rally in Nicosia. Reuters

While calling the report “a code red for humanity,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres kept a sliver of hope that world leaders could still somehow prevent 1.5˚C of warming, which he said is “perilously close.”

There is also a way for the world to stay at the 1.5˚C threshold with extreme and quick emission cuts, but even then, temperatures would rise 1.5˚C in a decade and even beyond, before coming back down, said co-author Maisia Rojas Corrada, director of the Centre for Climate and Resilience Research in Chile.

In its 40-page Summary for Policymakers, the IPCC presents three maps of the world, with regions divided up in to hexagons. Each of the maps shows observed changes in extreme heat, rainfall and drought.

WORLD LEADERS REACTION

World leaders, green groups and influencers reacted Monday to a “terrifying” UN climate science report with a mix of horror and hopefulness as the scale of the emergency dawned on many.

A resident gestures as he holds an empty water hose during an attempt to extinguish forest fires in Greece. AFP

US presidential envoy on climate John Kerry said the IPCC report, which warned the world is on course to reach 1.5˚C of warming around 2030, showed “the climate crisis is not only here, it is growing increasingly severe.”

Frans Timmermans, the European Union’s deputy climate chief said the 3,500-page report proved “it’s not too late to stem the tide and prevent runaway climate change.”

Britain’s Premier Boris Johnson, whose government is hosting a crucial climate summit in November, said the assessment “makes for sobering reading.”

“I hope today’s IPCC report will be a wake-up call for the world to take action now, before we meet in Glasgow in November for the critical COP26 summit,” he said.