2022 IPCC Report: 'Atlas of Human Suffering'
Excerpt below from Reuters, Factbox: Key takeaways from the IPCC report on climate impacts and adaptation:
“The newest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report was released on February 28, 2022. The main take-aways from the report include:
What Is the IPCC?
The IPCC stands for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It’s the leading scientific authority on global warming. Established in 1988 as part of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the IPCC aims to inform policymakers around the world on the risks of human-caused climate change resulting from burning coal, oil, and natural gas and destroying carbon sinks through pollution and deforestation. They also inform policymakers how to take appropriate action.
To date, decision makers are not making the decisions or taking the action necessary to ensure a safe and habitable Earth.
Key Points
A lot of damage has already been done
People and other animals are already dying in heatwaves, storms and other disasters fueled by global warming. Hundreds of plant and animal species have disappeared from local areas, both on land and at sea. The death of coral reefs or the melting of glaciers will be irreversible in our lifetimes.
Weather extremes have pushed millions of people towards acute food or water insecurity, or have battered infrastructure and caused supply chain disruption.
The report calls for a complete revision in how humanity lives alongside nature. Just tweaking our social and economic systems "is not going to get us to a climate resilient future", said IPCC report co-author Ed Carr, a geographer and anthropologist at Clark University in Massachusetts. Instead we need "transformational changes... everything from our food to our energy to transportation, but also our politics and our society."
We are breaching the limits of adaptation
There is a limit to how much we can adapt; eventually, conditions become so extreme that the associated risks are "intolerable", the IPCC says.
In many cases, it's still technically possible to adjust for climate-altered conditions, but barriers such as costs or policies stand in the way. The IPCC calls these "soft" limits to adaptation.
With "hard" limits, there are no clear solutions. Biologically, humans can only cope with so much heat. Low-lying islands will eventually be engulfed by sea level rise. Some plants and animals have already hit hard limits, such as coral reefs that have died in marine heatwaves.
Hard limits increase with each increment of warming, but see a big jump at warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. The planet, having already warmed 1.1C, is expected to hit that threshold within two decades, and perhaps only one.
Above 1.5C warming, people relying on glaciers and snowmelt for fresh water will face acute shortages. At 2C, important food crops won't grow in many places. And if we overshoot and spend a few decades above 1.5C warming, many impacts will be irreversible.
The Earth is in trouble
Every world region faces a high risk of more species losses and extinctions. At 1.5C warming, scientists expect 3-14% of the world's species on land could vanish.
Most at risk are coastal species that face future sea level rise, as well as those dependent on seasonal river flows that will be disrupted by drought or by earlier melting of glaciers upriver. Plants and animals that can't easily move to more hospitable areas are also at high risk.
The report underlines the need to conserve 30% to 50% of the Earth's land, freshwater and ocean areas – echoing the 30% goal of the U.N.'s Convention on Biodiversity.
Currently, we're far from that goal. Less than 15% of the world's land, 21% of its freshwater and just 8% of oceans are under some form of protection, often with "insufficient stewardship", the report says.
Humans and Society are also in trouble
Aside from the public health risks from heatwaves and other weather extremes, there is also a rising risk of disease spread through spoiled food, tainted water, or pathogen-carrying insects such as mosquitoes.
In some communities, particularly the poor and vulnerable, malnutrition is increasing. Food production could be compromised by rising seas and disruptive weather, along with poorer soil quality and reduced pollination. Fisheries will also take a hit, especially those that rely on coral reefs.
At the same time, climate-linked weather extremes are also disrupting health services and adding to mental health stress, the report says.
We are running out of time
The report urges people to get ready now for a warmer world. The weather extremes and other climate impacts are happening faster than earlier reports had anticipated.
"Any further delay... will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all," the IPCC concludes.
Communities need to be bolstering infrastructure and rethinking their cities to deal with issues such as heat, flood risk or water availability. Efforts that improve liveability while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions are "more urgent than previously thought", the report says. Actions that prioritize equity and justice, including tackling gender or income inequalities, have better overall outcomes, it says.”
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