I don’t mean to freak you out but the United Nations just issued a dire warning for the Earth, and yep, it’s gonna be BAD. So actually, scratch that, it is definitely time to panic.
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A recent report by the UN and the world’s best climate agencies has found that the period between 2015-2019 has seen the hottest global temperate on record.
“It is currently estimated to be 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial (1850-1900) times and 0.2 degrees Celsius warmer than 2011-2015,” the report read.
I know what you’re thinking. 1.1 degrees? That’s the difference between a light cardi and a hoodie, it’s nothing! But that 1.1 degree of warming is set to have catastrophic impacts that will be felt all over the world.
The report also found that the Arctic summer ice as decreased by a whopping 12% in the last 40 years, largely because of the warming since 2015.
Meanwhile, the Antarctic is equally fucked, with the melt rate increasing sixfold each year between 1979 and 2017. The report also concluded that glacier loss in the last five years is at an all-time high, according to news.com.au.
According to CSIRO Climate Science Centre’s chief research scientist, Dr Pep Canadell, we need to cut emissions as soon as possible. Preferably, yesterday.
“If we increase to 2 degrees or above the impact of extreme weather events will be catastrophic for many economies,” he said in an SMH interview.“It is very likely we will go to 2 degrees and if we don’t do a lot more we will go well above that.”
Instead of reducing, the world’s CO2 emissions actually grew by 2% last year, which is exactly the opposite of what needs to happen right now.
“Technically, it is still possible to bridge the gap in 2030 to ensure global warming stays below 2 degrees and 1.5 degrees … However, if nationally determined contributions are not increased urgently and backed up by immediate action, exceeding the 1.5 degrees goal can no longer be avoided,” the report warned.
The UN’s report comes after last week’s climate strike’s, with Secretary General Antonio Guterres calling a climate summit on Monday to urge countries to drastically reduce their emissions. According to The Guardian, we need to triple our climate emission reduction targets in order to meet the Paris Climate Agreement goals.
“Let’s face it, we have no time to lose,” Gueterres said before the summit.
Shocking to absolutely nobody at this point, ScoMo isn’t attending the summit despite being in the US right now. He actually refused Guterres’ request to meet, likely because he’s too busy taking photos with Gold Logies at NASA HQ. Despite all of the incredible efforts across the country at last week’s climate strike, Scott Morrison continues to blatantly ignore the issue. Are we surprised? No. Are we disappointed? Absolutely.
