our summary of the 2022 ipcc report
It’s easy to focus on what's in front of us and shut out the less than ideal news which we might be able to disassociate with. This is human nature - and although it's psychologically logical, it’s not going to help in the current climate state of affairs.
We are huge proponents of prioritizing your personal mental state, wellness needs and being generally mindful of your energy. It's also human to want to avoid living in a state of constant terror, as so many of the photos of the terrible humanitarian crisis happening in Ukraine portray to us daily.
We cannot and should not ignore those photos. We should want to do everything in our power to correct all those wrongs - and be on the right side of history.
There is no time to ignore the climate crisis, either - especially as fossil fuel companies all over the U.S. have been using the world's dependence on Russian oil as a proponent to take us back in history, from an emissions standpoint, potentially propelling us towards a dimmer environmental future than we already have laid out.
The truth is, these words are about as fun to write as they are to read - however essential they are to our children.
Co-authored by 270 researchers from 67 countries, the annual IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report came out almost silently in the midst of Russia's unprovoked and ruthless attack on Ukraine.
a breakdown of the issues
Here’s essential reading paraphrasing of some of the most important points of the 37 page document for policymakers:
Human recognition of climate risk is essential to future life on earth
Human induced climate change, including more frequent + intense extreme events, has caused widespread adverse impacts and losses to nature and people, beyond natural climate variability.
The most vulnerable people and systems have been found to be disproportionately adversely affected by climate change; the world over. Africa is responsible for only 2-3% of global emissions and is the most vulnerable.
Climate change has caused substantial damages, and increasingly irreversible losses in marine ecosystems. The extent and magnitude of these climate change impacts are larger than ever estimated previously.
Climate change has increased food and water insecurity; Increasing weather and climate extreme events have exposed millions of people to acute food insecurity and reduced water security.
Sudden losses of food production and access to food have increased malnutrition in many communities, especially for Indigenous Peoples, small-scale food producers and low-income households with children, elderly people and pregnant women particularly being impacted.
Roughly half of the world’s population currently experience severe water scarcity for at least some part of the year.
Future vulnerability of ecosystems will be strongly influenced by past, present and future human society, including from unsustainable consumption and production, and increasing demographic pressures, as well as persisting unsustainable use and management of land, ocean, and water.
Projected climate change will cause loss and degradation of much of the world’s forests, coral reefs and low-lying coastal wetlands.
More than 14% of the world’s species are at high risk of extinction as global temperatures rise. The current rate of extinction of species is estimated at 100 to 1,000 times higher than natural background extinction rates.
Unsustainable agricultural expansion increases ecosystem and human vulnerability and leads to competition for land and/or water resources. (editors note: Regenerative Agriculture is a key to course correction; check out the documentary Kiss The Ground on Netflix to learn more)
Global warming, reaching 1.5°C in the near-term, would cause unavoidable increases in multiple climate hazards and present multiple risks to ecosystems and humans.
Near-term actions that limit global warming to close to 1.5°C would substantially reduce projected losses and damages related to climate change in human systems and ecosystems, but cannot eliminate them all.
Climate change impacts and risks are becoming increasingly complex and more difficult to manage. Multiple climate hazards will occur simultaneously, and multiple climatic and non-climatic risks will interact, resulting in compounding overall risk and risks cascading across sectors and regions. Some responses to climate change result in new impacts and risks.
Weather and climate extremes are causing economic and societal impacts across national boundaries through supply-chains, markets, and natural resource flows, with increasing transboundary risks projected across the water, energy and food sectors.
There are feasible and effective adaptation options which can reduce the risks to people and nature. The effectiveness of adaptation to reduce climate risk will decrease with increasing warming. (I.E. The longer we wait/ignore the facts, the less chance we have to adapt and mitigate damage to human life/the earth)
Integrated, multi-sector solutions which address social inequities and cut across systems increase the feasibility and effectiveness of adaptation. Here is an example.
Enabling Conditions include: political commitment & follow through, institutional frameworks, policies and instruments with clear goals and priorities, enhance knowledge on impacts and solutions & mobilization of and access to adequate financial resources, monitoring, evaluation and inclusive governance. (VOTE! GO SCIENCE!)
This is - well, A LOT. Right now, it just seems like there aren't enough people talking about it - or maybe in the right channels. We feel that it is our duty to provide this content for you - and to help you to remember that we're ALL in it together. (READ: There is hope. There is time. It requires all of our attention, it requires a united front - and it requires it as soon as possible. We can do this.)
things you can do, now:
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Get interested in learning more about ways you can make an impact, both personally and by asking more from legislation (or better yet, run for office!)
Get clear on your personal fossil fuel usage and how you can circumvent it (clean energy solutions, electric vehicle usage, public transit )
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