IPCC Sixth Assessment Report- Mitigation and Planning

 In case you missed it, the Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange, IPCC, released their sixth report. The scientists find that:

• Climate Change is already affecting ecosystems globally
• The planet is being impacted unevenly
• There is already a 1.5 degree Celsius of warming baked into the future by past greenhouse gas emissions no matter how much countries cut emissions now.
• Despite pledges made in Glasgow at the COP 26 meeting the world is still on track for a 2-2.9 degree Celsius warming
• China and India are not our friends and their emissions will continue to grow significantly.
• Adaption to climate change is what we as a planet will have to do.

Increases in frequency and severity of extreme weather events such as heatwaves and heavy rain are occurring across all continents and all oceans. Climate change is affecting nature, people’s lives and infrastructure everywhere.  Our world is warming, the climate changing and extreme events are increasingly impacting nature and people's lives. According to the IPCC, about half of the world’s population currently experiences severe water shortages at some point during the year, in part due to climate change and extreme events such as flooding and droughts. Drought conditions have become more frequent in many regions, caused lengthening wildfire season and increasing the areas burned in the western U.S. and other parts of the world.

“Healthy ecosystems and rich biodiversity underpin human survival. They provide countless services that make our Earth a habitable place. However, climate change and increases in extreme weather events are drastically and progressively impacting nature, weakening the structure, functioning and resilience of ecosystems.”

“The world’s ecosystems on land, in freshwater and in the ocean provide a wide array of essential services to humans. They produce the food we eat and the oxygen we breathe. They filter our water, recycle nutrients and help to limit global warming by storing large amounts of carbon. Furthermore, they cool the air and offer “green” or “blue” spaces such as parks and lakes for fun, adventure and relaxation, thus improving our health and mental well-being. In short, healthy ecosystems are essential for human survival and make our Earth livable.”

“Climate change – with its slow-onset events like sea level rise and ocean acidification and increases in extreme weather – is drastically and progressively affecting our world’s biodiversity and ecosystems. “

Although there have been some positive impacts on agricultural productivity in some high-latitude regions, as the planet warms some of the current agricultural land  will become increasingly unsuitable. Impacts will continue to increase, weakening the structure, functioning and resilience of ecosystems and their ability to regulate our world’s climate. Right now, ecosystems are removing and storing more carbon from the atmosphere than they emit, helping to balance global warming.

“Nature offers a lot of untapped potential, not only to reduce climate risks, and deal with the causes of climate change, but also to improve people’s lives. By restoring and safeguarding ecosystems on land and in the ocean, we help plants and animals to build climate resilience. Nature, in turn, can help us regulate the climate, give us clean, safe water, control pests and diseases and pollinate our crops. However, investing in nature alone won’t be enough. To secure a healthy, livable planet for everyone, we need to transform our way of life fundamentally, especially key elements such as our industry and energy sector as well as how cities and infrastructures are planned and built. Taking action now gives us the best chance of success.”

We need to preserve our ecosystems and cohesively plan our growth, development, infrastructure, energy use and protect our water resources. This begins here, at home with the Rural Crescent.