6th IPCC Report – An Eye-opening to the Alarming Climate Change

We all are concerned about climate change, but when it focuses like a problem for next generations, we ask ourselves that would climate change even affect us? No matter what we care about, climate change is so far affecting our world today. Recently, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released their sixth assessment report on climate change, really an eye opening to the present world. Let’s have a look at this report and various factors they put forward as a cause for the climate change nowadays.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

An intergovernmental group of the United Nations (UN) was assigned for reviewing the various field related to climate change caused by natural, economic, human impacts, etc. It was established in the year 1988 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

This panel does not conduct original research or detect climate change, rather they accept an ordered review of all the admissible published literature to provide a thorough update on the changes, its effects and potential policies. Thousands of scientists and other experts enlist to review and summarize the data and systemize key findings into “Assessment Reports”. Recently, the IPCC released the first part of their Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) titled “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis” and the remaining two parts are expected to be released in the year 2022.

IPCC Climate Change Press Conference 2021:

Key Points of the Report:

GLOBAL TEMPERATURE

1. The global mean temperature will cover the 1.5°C limit in the current decade or next. Definitely, we can say that the temperature would rise by 2°C during 2040–2060 without any reduction of emissions.

2. The last decade was considered to be hotter than any another period of time in the past 1,25,000 years. Global temperature was measured about 1.09°C higher in this decade between 2011-2020 than between 1850-1900.

CARBON DIOXIDE (CO₂) CONCENTRATIONS

1. Humans released 2,400 billion tones of CO₂ since the late 1800s.
2. Most of the prime causes include activities like burning of fossil fuels, defforestation, etc.
3. The world has already depleted 86% of it’s available carbon resources due to human activities.

CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBAL WARMING

1. Sea Level Rise is one of the most major causes of Global Warming. The rise has tripled in the recent years. The scientists are saying that this sea level rise will continue throughout the century and can lead to coastal erosion resulting in frequent and drastic flooding in low-lying areas.
2. Our earth is heating up by a temperature of 0.5^oC every 5 years. This in turn can increase hot extremes, drought and extreme precipitation.
3. Glacial melting is another important consequence of global warming. Mountain ranges including Himalayas, Alpes are being seriously affected.
4. Melting glaciers and retreating snow lines is causing a change in the precipitation patterns, the water cycle, increased floods as well as an increased scarcity of water across the Himalayan states.

What Can We Do To Save Our Planet ?

4. Building low carbon and climate resilient cities.
5. Implement climate smart agriculture practices.
6. Conserve water. Avoid chemical methods to clean water.
7. Travel Green. Use green fuels. Practice cycling.

Reference:

1. Climate Change IPCC Report 2021
2. Report by Roxy Mathew Koll, Climate Scientist, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune.
3. IPCC Press Conference, 2021.

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