IPCC report is ‘’code red for humanity.’’ Floods, droughts, and wildfires will be more and more.
Issue
2021.10.08
No one can escape! Do we have another chance?

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report reveals human influence is "very likely" (90%) the main driver of climate change. Global warming causes not only the rise of sea levels, but droughts and floods. In 2021, high temperatures and heavy rains have continued to spread around the world, which highlights the increase in extreme weather. In fact, mankind is facing the final moment of life and death.


Burning from the southern hemisphere to the northern one


Remember the 8-month 2019-20 bushfires in Australia? It is estimated that the bushfires had burned over 17 million hectares and led to the deaths of at least 33 people and billions of animals. However, Australia experienced another wildfires at the beginning of 2021, and it lasted for almost a month, and then Argentina, the Russian Far East, and South Africa relayed all the way. In June, the northern hemisphere

summer arrived, high temperature, drought, and wildfires burned all the way from California to Canada. By the end of July, the fire field in North America had not been extinguished, but the wildfire season around the Mediterranean Sea quickly arrived.


Summer wildfires have burned more than 4.2 million hectares in Yakutia, Russia. The climate-warming emissions since June total more than 505 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Scientists fear the fires may thaw Siberian permafrost and peatlands, releasing even more carbon that was long stored in the frozen tundra.


Greece was burned by several wildfires in August amid its most severe heat wave in decades. Evia, the second largest island of Greece, was particularly hard-hit, with a major wildfire burning for more than 10 days in the north. Greece is one of the European Union's biggest honey producers, but about 40% of Greek pine honey is collected in the rolling mountains of Evia's north where it’s now totally scorched.


Floods hit all over the world


In January 2021, there were also fires in Australia, but the immediate rainfall made the fires extinguished. However, the violent heavy rain also flooded and caused disasters for local residents. In March 2021, the heavy rain brings 900 mm of rainfall within 6 days, which was more than three times the average rainfall in March, causing severe flooding in New South Wales. Unfortunately, catastrophic floods have broken out in many places around the world.


In early July 2021, severe landslides occurred in Japan due to heavy rains. A total of 21 people were killed, and 8 people are still unaccounted for. In mid-July, at least 157 people died due to severe flooding in Western Europe, caused by what experts described as the heaviest rainfall in a century. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate. At the end of July, it dropped the equivalent of a year's rainfall in just three days in China, killing more than 300 people. In early September, New York declared a state of emergency due to historic heavy rains. At least 67 people across eight U.S. states have died due to this flooding.

Facing climate change, do we have another chance?


Have we lost the hope? Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of World Meteorological Organization, says, ‘’ No and yes, according to the report we’re still having the chance to stop the negative climate change in the mid of this century.’’ Scientists admit that many damages cannot be retrieved, but they still hope that the Glasgow Climate Conference in November, 2021 will set a milestone in the fight against climate change.


Under the climate crisis, the global environment, economy, and people's safety have all been impacted. Governments and enterprises should work together to act for climate, formulate strong carbon reduction and climate adaptation policies in response to the global goal of reducing carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 and reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and promoting energy transition to mitigate the disasters caused by extreme weathers.

Reference
  • IPCC.  https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/
  • United Nations.  https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/08/1097362
  • BBC News.  https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58130705
  • Parliament of Australia. https://reurl.cc/DZ35kR
  • Reuters.  https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/vast-wildfires-russias-yakutia-set-emissions-record-monitor-2021-08-04/
  • CNN.  https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/deadly-flooding-in-europe-07-15-21/index.html

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