Scientists are raising alarms about the current state of our planet’s climate. Major indicators like carbon pollution, sea-level rise, and global temperature are hitting new highs. In a recent report, over 60 experts emphasized that we are in uncharted territory.
For the first time, greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and deforestation reached an average of 53.6 billion tonnes per year in the last decade. That’s a staggering 100,000 tonnes every minute! With rising emissions, Earth’s temperature exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels last year. Experts warn that we might exhaust our carbon budget—the amount we can emit while staying under that threshold—within just two years.
Even though investments in clean energy doubled those in fossil fuels last year, more than 80% of the world’s energy still comes from oil, gas, and coal. This growth in renewables hasn’t caught up with the increasing demand for energy.
The limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius was set in the Paris climate treaty as a critical goal. However, new findings indicate that this threshold will likely be surpassed in the coming years. Joeri Rogelj, a climate science professor, pointed out that we are approaching crunch time for climate change. He believes the next few decades will be crucial in determining how much warming we experience.
Another concerning trend is the rising sea levels. The oceans have surged by an average of 4.3 millimeters per year since 2019, compared to just under two millimeters per year from 1901 to 2018. This rise threatens many small island nations and makes storm surges more destructive. If sea levels rise by an additional 20 centimeters by 2050, we could see $1 trillion in annual flood damage across major coastal cities.
The earth is experiencing an energy imbalance as it absorbs more solar energy than it releases. So far, the oceans have taken in about 91% of this excess heat, protecting life on land. However, this imbalance has nearly doubled in the last 20 years, and scientists are unsure how long the oceans can continue to absorb heat. This situation suggests that even more severe climate impacts are on the horizon.
Moving forward, what happens next depends on our choices today. Valerie Masson-Delmotte, a co-author of the report, stresses that while we may quickly reach the 1.5C target, our future climate is still in our hands. The Paris Agreement allows for the potential of reducing global temperatures below this level before the century ends.
As we approach a significant climate summit in Brazil later this year, the need for global cooperation is more critical than ever. David King, a former UK Chief Scientific Advisor, emphasizes the urgency: “We do not have time to delay any further.”
This moment presents both a challenge and an opportunity. We must act now to steer our planet towards a more sustainable future.