The Last Chance To Face The Climate Crisis

UN Glasgow summit may be our last chance to prevent self-created climate disaster

Joel A. Mintz, August 24, 2021 (The Hill)

“…[In the first segment of its Sixth Assessment, issued earlier this month, he IPCC report] draws conclusions that are deeply alarming…[and] implicitly suggests an urgent need for collective action to avoid natural devastation and massive future human catastrophes…[Climate modeling] demonstrates that current climate changes have had little precedent. Atmospheric carbon levels have not been this high for at least 2 million years…[and] human activities have ‘unequivocally’ warmed our planet…

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[M]ajor alterations in natural global systems are already well underway; and without major changes in human behaviors the future will be bleak…[N]othing can stop global warming from intensifying over the next 20 years. Average surface temperatures will continue to rise over this period. The inevitable result will be life-threatening heatwaves, severe droughts, inland and coastal floods, melting glaciers, decreased mountain snowfalls, the extinction of many plant and animal species, as well as massive die-offs of many of the coral reef systems that sustain fisheries…

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…[But] a rapid shift away from fossil fuels — and toward solar, wind, geothermal and other benign techniques for generating energy — can still cause global warming to level off and decrease by 2050…[L]eaders must squarely confront the urgency of the climate crisis, and firmly commit to crucially needed actions…The forthcoming Glasgow summit provides a remarkable opportunity to do what is needed. It may also be our species' last chance…” click here for more

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