IPCC report 2021: ‘Cost of inaction keeps mounting’ says Biden amid ‘irreversible’ sea level rise warning
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An authoritative and sweeping new report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned the world is running out of time to make drastic cuts to greenhouse gas emissions and avert devastating climate breakdown.
The report, authored by 234 scientists in 66 countries, found “it is more likely than not” that the world will reach 1.5C sometime over the next 20 years. And far greater global warming is possible if little is done to tackle rapidly rising emissions. Temperatures currently stand at around 1.2C above pre-industrial levels.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the report, published on Monday, a “code red for humanity”.
He warned: “The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk. Global heating is affecting every region on Earth, with many of the changes becoming irreversible.”
The report is clear that some consequences of the climate crisis are already locked in. It is “virtually certain” that global sea levels will continue to rise this century.
Sea levels will “remain elevated for thousands of years” as a result of ocean warming and melting ice sheets, the report warns. However it is still within our power to make a monumental difference to sea levels by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“Beyond 2050, sea level projections become increasingly sensitive to the emission choices we are making today,” said Dr Bob Kopp, a lead author of the chapter addressing sea level rise, and director of the Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Rutgers University.
Time running out to avoid Cop26 failure, Boris Johnson is warned
Time is running out to avoid failure at the crucial climate summit the UK will host in November after a UN report found the world stands at “code red”, Boris Johnson has been told.
Deputy political editor Rob Merrick writes that a senior Conservative warned the prime minister had yet to make his “promises a reality”, while a respected think-tank said he must make the landmark gathering a personal priority to deliver success.
As Tory MPs launched a group to fight climate action they claim will cost too much, the environment minister, Zac Goldsmith, appeared to reveal fears of an active campaign to sabotage Cop26 in Glasgow.
But, despite calls for Mr Johnson to “do the heavy lifting” – by using his clout to pressurise other world leaders into stronger commitments – there are no plans for him to meet any before November, The Independent was told.
Read more below
Time running out to avoid Cop26 climate failure, Boris Johnson warned
PM told he must do ‘heavy lifting’ to rescue November summit – as plans are delayed and Tory MPs fight action that will ‘bankrupt country’
Russian wildfire smoke reaches North Pole for first time
Smoke from Russia’s wildfires has reached the North Pole for the first time since records began, with activists warning the situation is unlikely to improve before the second half of August, writes Moscow Correspondent Oliver Carroll.
Satellite images released by US space agency Nasa show pockets of dark grey smoke drifting about two thousand miles away from their origin in Yakutia, in Russia’s far east.
The smoke has covered a broad area from northern Siberia to Mongolia, with 1,200 towns and villages affected in Krasnoyarsk Krai alone.
The centre of the blaze, Yakutia, is currently experiencing the worst forest fires in its history, with nearly four million hectares still burning. One blaze covers an area as much as 1 million. hectares, also a record.
Experts say the situation will get worse over the forthcoming days, as strong winds and dry weather take hold. The hope is that late August rain could bring respite — but none of that is certain.
Read more below
Russian wildfire smoke reaches North Pole for first time
More than 1,200 towns and villages have been impacted by the fires
Meet the scientists behind the IPCC’s climate assessment report
The climate scientists who authored the first chapter of the IPCC report published on Monday met virtually for the first time ever this year, due to the Covid pandemic.
It meant that they were unable to pose for a traditional team photo. Instead the IPCC published this video of everyone involved holding up a word they had selected from the report.
Heatwave warning across the US as over 100 wildfires continue
Forecasters are warning of another “oppressive” heatwave across the US as wildfires continue to rage.
“It’s going to be a real oppressive week with dangerous heat and hot conditions. Excessive heat watches are up across much of the Pacific Northwest,” the National Weather Service reported on Sunday.
Heat advisories are also in effect for much of the south-central region and parts of western New York state.
More than 100 fires are burning across 15 states. In California, the Dixie Fire has become the second biggest wildfire in the state’s history and burned nearly 50,000 acres.
Heatwave warning given across the US as over 100 wildfires continue: ‘It’s going to be an oppressive week’
‘The dog days of summer have arrived,” National Weather Service warns
The time for action is now
A final thought as we wrap today’s live blog on the release of the IPCC climate report’s first installment.
There’s no doubt that the warnings are as serious as they come. The climate crisis will impact everyone, everywhere - but fortunately we’ve known (for a very long time) what to do.
The IPCC reports that it is “unequivocal” that human influence, largely from the burning of fossil fuels, is heating the atmosphere, ocean and land.
But the 234 scientists from 66 countries who authored the report stress that humanity’s actions still have the ability to determine the course, and we can avoid greater catastrophe by driving down global greenhouse gas emissions.
“We know that there’s no going back from some changes in the climate system,” Ko Barrett, IPCC vice chair and senior climate adviser at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said. “However, some of these changes could be slowed and others could be stopped by limiting warming.”
Take heart, take action - and listen to the science.
Louise Boyle, Senior Climate Correspondent
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