Climate change is the single most important issue of our time. It will have significant effects on all aspects of our life and the lives of the next generations.
This month, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations group looking at the science behind climate change, released its sixth assessment report.
Its findings were stark, grim, and unequivocal: human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred. Observed changes in extreme weather events are due to human influence.
When reading the report, I found myself thinking “Duh”. Yet, there are many who are still climate change skeptics. For the world leaders who are attempting to stop climate change, many do not agree on the solutions needed. Some see nuclear energy as necessary to remove our reliance on coal and fossil fuels while others critique its safety. Many believe we should only promote other renewables like wind and solar, even if they are less efficient. People have also proposed the banning of cars, even though large segments of the population rely on cars for commuting and public transit systems may not be able to provide for them.
There is no magic solution to the complex issue of climate change. Stopping climate change will require the world to take as many concrete actions as possible as soon as possible. The metric that matters is zero net carbon emissions. Solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower will all be part of the puzzle. Nuclear energy should also be important precisely because of its zero carbon emissions. But the key word here is net. What that means is fossil fuels, by far the main source of fuel today, may still play a role in the energy infrastructure. However, any emissions must be offset. If that means we plant significantly more trees, use carbon capture technology, or anything else that does so, these things should be pursued.
Fighting the changing climate will require everyone to do their part. One of the key parts of the IPCC report outlined how the world’s climate might change in coming decades. Climate change is effecting all of the globe’s regions. If no action is taken, those impacts will only continue to grow .
The IPCC developed simulations of various increases to global mean temperature. The maps below show the effects on different regions. When you hear that the global median temperature will go up by 1-2°C, you could just assume that would be the way it is the world over. The maps show how wrong this assumption could be. In several global mean cases, large areas of the globe may experience changes in temperature twice as much as the median. The other figure below shows changes in precipitation levels. Note that at minimum we are looking at changes of 10% wetter or 10% drier even in the best case scenarios.
Differences in temperature and moisture almost entirely determine weather patterns. Weather and climate affect all facets of life: growing food, where fresh water is located, even the transportation of sensitive products like COVID-19 vaccines. But it also affects immigration, security, geopolitics, and many more things you might not initially think about. The US Army is taking climate change models into consideration when they plan future combat strategies, as undoubtable are others like China and Russia. The world’s first water war might break out on the border of Egypt and Ethiopia. A wetter, warmer world will be a less stable, less secure and less safe place. Its one we don’t want.
Many world leaders are proposing ways to prevent climate change. But they need to work together, keep all options on the table, and hurry it up. No one can afford to drop the ball on this. Especially when the ball is the globe we live on.
