Like every year since 1992, to remember Climate Day, a new global blackout will take place. The movement consists of turning off the lights in emblematic monuments for 60 minutes at a given time, although it is also called to do the same in buildings and private homes, where it is proposed to disconnect all electrical appliances. This year, in Argentina it will take place between 20:30 and 21:30.
In 1992, during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, March 26 was established as World Climate Day with the purpose of raising awareness and making people aware of the importance and influence of climate, as well as the impact of climatic variation on man. This year, the day will coincide with a new edition of “Earth Hour”, the most important environmental awareness initiative in the world.
In recent decades, important climatic variations have been registered as a result of rapid industrial development, as well as population growth, which have generated various consequences, such as the greenhouse effect, global warming, environmental pollution, overexploitation of natural resources and affectation of the layer of ozone, negatively influencing the natural cycles of the Earth.
The latest reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicate that “human-induced climate change” has already caused “widespread adverse impacts” on nature and people. Although the negative effects are noted “in all sectors and regions”, the “most vulnerable” are much more affected.
According to reports, between 3.3 and 3.6 billion people – about half the world’s population – now live in contexts considered “highly vulnerable” to climate change, either because of their geographical location or because of their poor socioeconomic situation, which generates a greater suffering from the consequences of extreme weather events.
IPCC experts warn that “some losses are already irreversible”, such as the first species extinctions that are taking place due to warming, while “other impacts are close to irreversibility”.
In this sense, they affirm that it is still possible to correct part of the environmental crisis, but they warn that the changes must be drastic and imply doing things differently.
–
