Alarming global warming – LA NACION

He Paris Agreement Signed in 2015 at COP21, it united 196 countries willing to keep the increase in the planet’s global temperature below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels and make efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. The date set to reach these objectives is 2050, but the reality is that, at this rate, in just over 20 years the first limit will have been exceeded.

The world has witnessed in the last century a vertiginous increase in its temperature: 1°C from pre-industrial times to the present day. If this progressive increase reached 2°C, the consequences would spread like a cluster bomb in multiple directions. Scientists claim that global warming is exacerbating adverse weather events in the world.

The visible consequences of extreme heat on humans include increased mortality due to heat stroke, dehydration, and related illnesses, especially among older people and outdoor workers. In addition, the lack of water has also become a serious problem in some regions, also affecting agriculture and food production.

The temperature of the oceans broke all-time records and flashed a red light on the weather dash. The alarm among scientists was activated because between April 1 and 24 the temperature of the oceans at the global level had two peaks, one of 21.1 and another of 21 degrees. These values ​​are destructive to marine life because they reduce their ability to capture carbon dioxide and, of course, also contribute to sea level rise.

It is worth insisting that the climate crisis is here to stay and, if we do not act, it will continue to worsen rapidly to a point of no return that will jeopardize our future and that of the next generations.

To further aggravate the climate crisis generated by human beings, the El Niño phenomenon is now joining, which warms up areas of the Pacific and ends up having global repercussions. As warned by the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Petteri Taalasthis phenomenon will raise global temperatures to unknown limits.

According to the “Annual to Decennial World Climate Bulletin”, produced by the WMO together with the United Kingdom Meteorological Service (Met Office), and in which agencies from other countries also participate, there is a 98% chance that, in at least one of the next five years, the temperature record reached in 2016, the warmest year on the planet since reliable records began, will be exceeded in the 19th century.

Indeed, there is a 66% probability that during one of those five years the average temperature of the Earth’s surface will exceed, for the first time, the worrying threshold of 1.5°C with respect to the pre-industrial average, leading to the worst effects of global warming. Exceeding that dangerous limit, an advance warning in the 2015 Paris Agreement, will trigger catastrophic biodiversity losses and will inevitably impact people’s health, food security, water management and the environment. If the climate imbalance were to become widespread, as anticipated, populations on all continents would be affected, but it would be the most vulnerable or those with the fewest resources that would bear the brunt.

When commemorating yesterday a new International Environment Dayit is worth insisting that the climate crisis is here to stay and, if we do not act, it will continue to worsen rapidly to a point of no return that will irremediably jeopardize our future and that of the next generations.

THE NATION