The (Very Few) Good Points From The IPCC Report

Today an IPCC report delivered a landmark study that sadly confirmed what we all feared, the world’s temperatures will continue to increase and so will its sea levels, that’s a fact.

The UN chief said the report "is a code red for humanity. The best case scenario means even IF we get a handle on emissions and keep temperatures around 1.5C by 2100, the waters will continue to rise long into the future of our fragile planet.

However, despite the damning report scientists say a catastrophe can be avoided if the world acts fast.

Carbon Dioxide

In the IPCC’s last report, in 2013, it highlighted concerns that the climate could be more sensitive to carbon dioxide than they thought. The reported frequently mentioned Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity - a phrase used to capture the range of warming that could occur if CO2 levels were doubled. It was predicted to range from 1.5C to 4.5C, with no best estimate.

Now this range has narrowed and the scientists opt for 3C as their most likely figure. 

They said "We are now able to constrain that with a good degree of certainty and then we employ that to really make far more accurate predictions, so that way, we know that net zero will really deliver" said Prof Piers Forster from the University of Leeds, and an author on the report. 

Methane

According to the IPCC, around 0.3C of the 1.1C that the world has already warmed by comes from methane, therefore tackling emissions from the gas and oil industry, agriculture and rice cultivation, could be a big win in the short-term.

"The report quashes any remaining debate about the urgent need to slash methane pollution, especially from sectors such as oil and gas, where the available reductions are fastest and cheapest," said Fred Krupp, from the US Environmental Defense Fund.

"When it comes to our overheating planet, every fraction of a degree matters - and there is no faster, more achievable way to slow the rate of warming than by cutting human-caused methane emissions."

What Next?

The report comes just a couple of months before the critical COP26 climate conference held in Glasgow, which will undoubtedly increase the pressure on politicians to act immediately.

While the future projections of global warming are sadly clearer than ever, and numerous impacts can’t be avoided or reversed, the authors caution against fatalism, and scientists are more certain than ever what will work when tackling planet Earth’s biggest threat since an asteroid put paid to the dinosaurs.

The full IPCC report is available here