Physical Address
23,24,25 & 26, 2nd Floor, Software Technology Park India, Opp: Garware Stadium,MIDC, Chikalthana, Aurangabad, Maharashtra – 431001 India
CLAIM
It is too late now to stop or reverse global warming.
FACT
We cannot stop global warming overnight but we may definitely slow the rate and extent of global warming by reducing human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases which are trapping excess heat causing global warming and climate change.
WHAT THEY SAY
If global warming is a reality, it is something that has already gone out of human control. It is too late now to try slowing or reversing global temperatures which inevitably will only rise in the near future. Humanity has reached a point of no return in terms of climate change. Human activities now can hardly have any impact on climate on a ‘global’ scale.
WHAT WE FOUND
As the climate change, misinformation/disinformation narrative changes from outright “climate denial” to “solutions denial”, the argument/claim that humanity has already reached a point of no return in terms of global warming and climate change is gaining traction. This has happened perhaps because scientific evidence for climate change caused by humans is too obvious to ignore or deny anymore. Therefore ‘climate deniers’ are now spreading ‘climate despair’ and are looking at climate change in apocalyptic terms as a phenomenon likely to be the end of human civilization.
FUTURE WARMING ‘NOT’ UNAVOIDABLE
Many believe that even if humans stopped all activities emitting CO2 overnight, inertia in the climate system would lead to rising temperatures in the future for a long period of time. These people claim that since CO2 can exist in the atmosphere for more than a century, temperatures would keep on soaring even if the concentration of CO2 stopped increasing because the heat-trapping factor is already in play.
But scientific findings have pointed to the fact that as soon as CO2 emissions become zero, the CO2 already in the atmosphere will level off and soon slowly subside because soils, ocean, and vegetation will keep absorbing CO2 throughout the time, as they always do. The atmospheric and ocean interactions will adjust and balance the temperature so that it doesn’t rise further or drops altogether. This will help in flattening the additional warming of the planet that is leading to global warming and climate change.
NOT TOO LATE
The 1.5-degree threshold was first introduced officially in the Paris Agreement which was adopted by 196 Parties on Dec 12, 2015, as a legally binding treaty concerning climate change. The goal was to limit global average temperatures to well below 2 degrees, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius with pre-industrial levels as the baseline. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC report headlined ‘Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change’ concluded that to limit global warming to around 1.5C, the global greenhouse gas emissions would have to peak “before 2025 at the latest and be reduced by 43 percent by 2030. The report stated that for the global average temperatures to stay within 1.5 degrees, the world needed to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. “The report does really show – scientifically and robustly – that net-zero does work for stabilizing or even reducing surface temperatures,” stated IPCC author Prof Piers Forster from the University of Leeds.
The IPCC report also stresses the fact that the worst-case climate-related disasters are not inevitable and every half degree of lesser warming can ultimately make a huge difference. Climatic conditions like extreme rainfall, heat, and drought could be lesser in terms of frequency and intensity.
Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/
GLOBAL EMISSIONS CAN BE HALVED BY 2030
The introduction of new climate-related policies and laws has led to an increase in energy efficiency and deployment of renewable energy besides decreasing the rate of deforestation. The IPCC in a recent press release headlined, “The evidence is clear: the time for action is now. We can halve emissions by 2030” stated the above.
IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee said, “I am encouraged by climate action being taken in many countries. There are policies, regulations, and market instruments that are proving effective. If these are scaled up and applied more widely and equitably, they can support deep emissions reductions and stimulate innovation.”
The release stated that reducing the present emission levels to at least halve by 2030 is possible with options in all sectors. “Limiting global warming will require major transitions in the energy sector. This will involve a substantial reduction in fossil fuel use, widespread electrification, improved energy efficiency, and use of alternative fuels (such as hydrogen),” the release further stated.
Category:
