IPCC Report on Global Warming

Global warming

  • Global warming is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth’s climate system and its related effects, as part of climate change. Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming.
  • The man made reasons for greenhouses have increased the global warming.
  • Global surface temperatures have increased about 0.74°c (plus or minus 0.18°c) since the late–19th century, and the linear trend for the past 50 years of 0.13°C (plus or minus 0.03°C) per decade is nearly twice that for the past 100 years.
  • The warming has not been globally uniform.

Impacts of global warming

  • Direct impact of climate change
    • Exposure to heat or cold waves or extreme weather events.
    • High temperatures and air pollutants, especially particulates.
    • Increase the number and severity of extreme weather events such as storms, floods, and droughts, and related landslides and wildfires.
    • Climate variability also may aggravate diseases resulting from water contamination.
    • Sudden increase and followed by decrease in food production.
    • Sea level rise may result into the migration of millions of population from the coastal cities.
    • Thermal sensitive crops will reduce its productivity, especially at tropics.
  • Indirect impact of climate change
    • Infectious and parasitic diseases are important causes of morbidity and mortality.
    • Global warming would tend to extend their area of influence or increase the importance of outbreaks.
    • Algal blooming also may be associated with bio-toxin contamination of fish and shellfish.
    • With global warming more contamination of sea food and other phytoplankton.
    • Climate-induced changes in the production of aquatic pathogens and bio-toxins may jeopardize seafood safety.
    • Infective agents and vectors are sensitive to environmental changes, especially those conditioned by temperatures and humidity.

Concern for 1.5°c and 2°c measures

  • For most people, the difference between 1.5°C and 2°C may seem trivial when daily temperatures fluctuate much more widely.
  • However, the reference here is to global average temperatures. Different regions of the earth will warm at different rates. For instance, the Arctic is already experiencing warming that is many times higher than the global average.
  • As per those reports, if the temperature goes beyond 2°C, then, the impacts of climate change could be irreversible and catastrophic.
  • Mainly, small island nations and least developed nations are likely to suffer the most and hence, they asked for the goal to restrict the temperature rise to even within 1.5°C.
  • The sea levels are expected to rise on an average by about 50 cms by 2100, when the World is warmer by 2°C.
  • But, beyond 2100, the overall propensity for much higher sea level rise is greater in 2°C World.
  • The risks to food security, health, fresh water, human security, livelihoods and economic growth are already on the rise and will be worse in a 2°C World.
  • The number of people exposed to complex and compounded risks will also increase, mostly poorer countries in Asia and Africa will suffer the worst.
  • This requires massive deployment of financial and technological resources.
  • If nations do not mount a strenuous response against climate change, average global temperatures, which have already crossed 1°C, are likely to cross the 1.5°C mark around 2040.
  • The window of opportunity to take action is very small and closing fast.

Mitigation measures

  • There are many synergies between achieving mitigation targets and fulfilling Sustainable Development Goals.
  • To stay below 1.5°C, the transitions required by energy systems and human societies, in land use, transport, and infrastructure, would have to be rapid and on an unprecedented scale with deep emission reductions.
  • How is the remaining carbon budget, that is the room available in the atmosphere to safely contain more CO2, going to be shared among different countries?
  • This is a difficult question to address. The U.S. also reiterated its intent to pull out of the Paris Agreement. It has been reported, for instance, that the U.S. has been obstructionist in the deliberations at the recent meeting to determine the final text of this IPCC report.
  • Contributions from the U.S. and other rich countries to the Green Climate Fund and other funding mechanisms for the purpose of mitigation and adaptation are vital even to reach the goals of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) commitments that each country made prior to the Paris conference.
  • Even if all the NDCs are implemented, the world is expected to warm by over 3°C.

Location: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Geneva Convention 1949

Image
Why is it in news? Pakistan violated the Geneva Convention What is Geneva Conventions? The Geneva Conventions are a series of treaties on the treatment of civilians, prisoners of war (POWs) and soldiers. It is also known as the Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflicts. It was adopted in 1949. It includes four conventions, with three protocols added on since 1949. Their purpose is to provide minimum protections, standards of humane treatment, and fundamental guarantees of respect to individuals who become victims of armed conflicts. These Conventions and their Additional Protocols set out how soldiers and civilians should be treated during armed conflict. What are the four conventions? Convention I: This convention protects wounded soldiers and ensures humane treatment without discrimination based on race, colour, sex, religion or faith, birth or wealth, etc. The convention prohibits torture, assaults upon personal dignity, and execution without judgment. It also grants the ri
Read more

ICJ on decolonisation of Mauritius

Image
Context: The International Court of Justice (ICJ)  dismissed the UK’s right to govern the Chagos Islands  in the Indian Ocean and called on its government to withdraw from the archipelago. What is the issue? The Chagos Archipelago is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 km south of the Maldives. It had been part of Mauritius since the 18th century when the French first settled the islands. All of the islands of French colonial territory in the region were ceded to the British in 1810. Before Mauritian independence, in 1965, the UK split the archipelago from the territory of Mauritius to form the British Indian Ocean Territory and permitted the US to use it for defence purposes for 50 years (until December 2016) followed by a 20-year optional extension and US Military Base was setup in Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands. 2,000 inhabitants were resettled in Mauritius and the Seychelles. The UN resolutions banned the
Read more

Global Energy Transition index

Image
About the index Global Energy Transition Index 2019 released by WEF for shaping the future energy with sustainable use along with environment protection. It is System Initiative on Shaping the Future of Energy. The index benchmarks 115 countries on the current level of their energy system performance and the readiness of their macro environment for transition to a secure, sustainable, affordable and inclusive future energy system. It measures how well they are able to balance energy security and access with environmental sustainability and affordability. The report says in order to achieve a stable, sustainable and affordable global energy system will require a collaborative and systematic approach to solving problems and exploiting opportunities such as new technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Report details – World performance Sweden remains on the top on the list and is followed by Switzerland and Norway in the top three. Among major economics, the UK
Read more