10 keys to understanding the current climate situation on Earth

The report titled ’10 New Insights in Climate Science’, agreed upon by 67 scientists from 24 countries and published at COP28, Ten key messages to consider to understand current climate situation of the planet. The report is the result of a joint initiative by Future Earth, Earth League and the World Climate Research Program (WCRP). It has been held annually since 2017 and is aimed at the international scientific and political community. The aim is: help make science-based decisions and that’s why every chapter includes political advice. “This is especially true for COP28, which highlights the need for transformative actions to address the climate crisis,” says the Center de Recerca i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF) in Catalonia, the only center in Spain to participate in the report.

Report warns that so far onshore and offshore carbon sinks are coping with CO₂ emissions, but science reveals this is a problem There is great uncertainty about how nature will respond to current climate change from now on.

In this sense, CREAF researcher Marcos Fernández, one of the authors of this chapter, explains: “historically, in the global balance of atmospheric carbon, Terrestrial ecosystems have absorbed around 30% and oceans around 25%, but it is very likely that they will absorb less carbon than expected in the future.“for example, due to change in fire regime.

Deforestation in Indonesia Green Peace


Efforts to reduce emissions through nature-based solutions are therefore an urgent priority, especially as they serve to increase complementary carbon sinks and help offset hard-to-eliminate emissions. An example of these solutions would be restoring tropical forests or peatlands and wetlands.

10 important messages

1.- We will exceed the 1.5°C limit. Exceeding 1.5 °C of additional warming compared to the pre-industrial period is rapidly becoming inevitable. To reduce the risk of loss and damage as well as irreversible change, it is essential to reduce as much as possible the duration and magnitude we remain above 1.5 °C. Various evidence shows that we have not been able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and therefore there is no way to prevent global warming from exceeding 1.5 °C for at least several decades. We can achieve this only through truly radical transformations that have not yet been observed.

2.- We must give up fossil fuels. We need a rapid and controlled exit from our dependence on fossil fuels to stay within the target range of the Paris Agreement. The carbon budget is rapidly shrinking, and governments and the private sector need to stop enabling fossil fuel-dependent projects, accelerate the retirement of existing infrastructure, and rapidly accelerate the pace of deployment of renewable energy. High-income countries should lead the transition and provide support to low-income countries. All countries should seek an equitable and just transition that minimizes socioeconomic impacts on the most vulnerable segments of the population.

Experts now call for oil cuts Shutterstock


3.- Implement systems to eliminate CO2. Sound policies are needed to effectively remove carbon dioxide through nature at a sufficiently high scale. The ability to reduce carbon in nature (negative emissions) will be necessary to address hard-to-eliminate emissions and reduce global temperatures. But this natural capacity does not replace the need to quickly and deeply reduce anthropogenic emissions. Nature’s mitigation capacity (mostly based on forests) must be combined with the rapid acceleration and large-scale implementation of other methods to permanently eliminate CO2, and must do so with the support of more robust governance and better control.

4.- Forests and oceans may lose productivity as CO2 decreases. Overreliance on natural carbon sinks is a risky strategy: Their future contribution is uncertain. So far, CO₂ emissions have increased as terrestrial and marine carbon sinks have grown, but research suggests there is great uncertainty about how forests and oceans will respond to climate change. It is quite possible that these sinks will absorb less carbon in the future than predicted by current assessments. Therefore, efforts aimed at reducing emissions through nature-based solutions (NBS) are an urgent priority, especially since they serve to complement carbon sinks and help offset emissions that are difficult to eliminate. This is the section contributed by CREAF researcher Marcos Fernández.

Posidonia meadow at the bottom of the sea Ibanat


5.- More international cooperation is needed. Joint governance is needed to address the interconnected climate and biodiversity emergencies. International agreements on climate change and biodiversity (the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC and the Convention on Biological Diversity, CBD, respectively) need to find better alignment. Two key examples of action in the right direction are, on the one hand, guaranteeing the allocation of climate finance for the management of nature, and on the other hand, strengthening concrete cooperation between both conventions.

6.- Extreme weather events combine with each other. Compound events refer to the combination of multiple factors and/or risks (simultaneous or sequential), and their impacts may be greater than the sum of the individual events. Identifying and preparing for these combined events is critical to managing risks and providing support in emergencies. California has experienced droughts, heat waves, and dust storms that affected people and crops.

7.- The loss of glaciers in the mountains is accelerating. Ice decline due to climate change is even faster in high mountain regions such as the Himalayas and polar regions. This threatens downstream populations with long-term water shortages (about 2 billion worldwide) and exposes mountain dwellers to increased risks such as flash flooding.

Glaciers are melting, threatening millions of people Pixabay


8.- Human inactivity is increasing in regions exposed to climate risks. People facing climate risks may be unable or unwilling to move, and existing institutional frameworks fail to account for inactivity and are inadequate to anticipate or support the needs of these populations.

9.- Make justice more functional and provide it with new tools Provides more effective climate adaptation. Pursuing different dimensions of justice and incorporating them into strategic climate adaptation planning and assessment can increase resilience to climate change and reduce the risk of adaptation.

10.- Reform food systems Contributing to equitable climate action. Food systems play an important role in climate action, with feasible mitigation options ranging from production to consumption. However, interventions must be designed with and for equity and justice as associated outcomes, and the implementation of mitigation measures must be done in an inclusive manner with different stakeholders at various scales.

Full document: https://10insightsclimate.science/

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Contact address of the environmental department:krisclimatica@prensaiberica.es

Source: Informacion

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