NEW DELHI: The world will cross the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming mark in the 2030s, earlier than some past predictions, says the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released Monday.
The report further said that human influence has warmed the climate at a rate that is unprecedented in at least the last 2,000 years
The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) shows that emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities are responsible for approximately 1.1 degrees Celsius of warming since 1850-1900 and there seems no end to rising temperatures before 1950.
It further says that the past decade was most likely hotter than any period in the last 1,25,000 years when sea levels were as much as 10 meters higher.
“This report is a reality check. We now have a much clearer picture of the past, present and future climate, which is essential for understanding where we are headed, what can be done, and how we can prepare,” said IPCC Working Group I Co-Chair Valérie Masson-Delmotte.
The report projects that in the coming decades' climate changes will increase in all regions. For 1.5 degrees celsius of global warming, there will be increasing heat waves, longer warm seasons, and shorter cold seasons. At 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, heat extremes would more often reach critical tolerance thresholds for agriculture and health, the report shows.
But it is not just about temperature. Climate change is bringing multiple different changes in different regions – which will all increase with further warming. These include changes to wet and dryness, to winds, snow and ice, coastal areas and oceans.
In 2019, atmospheric CO2 concentrations were higher than at any time in at least 2 million years and concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide, both significant (Greenhouse Gases) GHGs, were higher than at any time in at least 800,000 years, said the report.
The Working Group I (AR6 WGI) report -- finalised and approved by 234 authors and 195 governments -- is the biggest update of the state of knowledge on climate science since the release of the IPCC’s AR5 in 2014, and its landmark 1.5 special report.
Scientists have no doubt that human activities have warmed the planet. Improved attribution science finds evidence of humankind’s impact throughout the climate system, human-caused emissions are now responsible for an altered, less stable planet.
Scientists are clear on the need to tackle greenhouse gases other than CO2 in the near term, emissions of methane - a powerful greenhouse gas - are of particular concern.