UN climate report warns of a 'terrible level' of human suffering
The latest UN climate report, released on Monday, warns that the world faces a terrible "atlas of human suffering", the direct result of a decades-old "criminal" policy of ignoring the devastating impact of man's activities on the global ecosystem.
Issued on:
Nearly half the planet's population is now exposed to a devastating array of climate impacts, according to the latest 3,600-page report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
UN chief Antonio Guterres blasted world powers for what he called their "criminal" abdication of leadership.
Guterres said the most compelling scientific overview from the UN's climate experts was a "damning indictment" of the failure of the international community to act.
"Nearly half of humanity is living in the danger zone -- now. Many ecosystems are at the point of no return -- now," he said, adding that the facts of climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions were "undeniable".
According to the report from the UN climate watchdog, time has very nearly run out to ensure a "liveable future" for all.
Cascade of catastrophe
Species extinction, ecosystem collapse, insect-borne disease, deadly heatwaves, megastorms, water shortages, reduced crop yields -- all are measurably worse due to rising temperatures, the report says.
In the last 12 months alone, the world has seen a cascade of unprecedented floods, heatwaves and wildfires across four continents.
All these impacts will accelerate in the coming decades, even if the fossil fuel pollution driving climate change is rapidly brought under control, the 195-nation IPCC warned.
As nations struggle to force the curve of carbon dioxide emissions downward, they must also prepare for a climate onslaught that in some cases can no longer be avoided, the report warns.
'Turn rage into action'
The UN chief said coal and other fossil fuels are "choking humanity" and called for G20 economies to follow up on their commitments to stop funding coal abroad by ending its use at home.
Oil and gas giants and their financial backers were also "on notice", he said.
"Now is the time to turn rage into action," he added.
"Every fraction of a degree matters. Every voice can make a difference. And every second counts."
The report examines the irreversible and potentially catastrophic changes in the climate system known as tipping points, which are triggered at different thresholds of global warming.
These include the melting of ice sheets in Greenland and the Antarctic, freeing enough frozen water to lift global sea level by 13 metres, the rapid replacement of the tropical forest in the Amazon basin with savannah grassland and the disruption of global ocean currents which distribute heat across the globe.
"The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: Climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and planetary health," the report concludes.
Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning
Subscribe