As humans in this world, working, playing, walking, going… we are busy focusing in the daily activities that allow us to work, live and enjoy our lifes. It is also very important to realize that during the execution of those activities we are leaving behind a footprint by utilizing many resources that in most of the cases we are not even aware we are using.
But in reality, human activity is changing the climate in so many different ways. Specially in unprecedent and sometimes irreversible ways. According to BBC a landmark study warns of increasingly extreme heatwaves.
1. HEATWAVES ACROSS THE COUNTRY
The EPA – United States Environmental Protection Agency indicates and describes trends in multi-day extreme heat events across the country:
We can conclude that heat waves are occurring more often in major cities from a national average of 2 heat waves during the 60’s to 6 per year during the 20’s.
Not only they are happening more often, but they are during on average 49 days longer according to this study. Catching people off-guard and increase exposure to health risks associated with heat waves.
2. WE ARE IN CODE RED
According to United Nations we are in “Code Red”. This means that Earth is getting so hot that temperatures in about a decade will probably blow past a level of warming that world leaders have sought to prevent.
This report shows that “We need to be prepared for going into that level of warming in the coming decades” and scientists have issued this message for more than three decades, but the world hasn’t listened, according to Inger Andersen – UN Environment Program Executive.
Nearly all the warming that has happened on Earth can be blamed on emissions of heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. At most, natural forces or simple randomness can explain one- or two-tenths of a degree of warming, the report said.
While calling the report “a code red for humanity,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres kept a sliver of hope that world leaders could still somehow prevent 1.5 degrees of warming, which he said is “perilously close.”
Some of the key points of the report are:
- Global surface temperature was 1.09C higher in the decade between 2011-2020 than between 1850-1900.
- The past five years have been the hottest on record since 1850
- The recent rate of sea level rise has nearly tripled compared with 1901-1971
- Human influence is “very likely” (90%) the main driver of the global retreat of glaciers since the 1990s and the decrease in Arctic sea-ice
- It is “virtually certain” that hot extremes including heatwaves have become more frequent and more intense since the 1950s, while cold events have become less frequent and less severe
3. THE ASSESSMENT
According to The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the assessment of climate change impacts and risks as well as adaptation is set against concurrently unfolding non-climatic global trends e.g., biodiversity loss, overall unsustainable consumption of natural resources, land and ecosystem degradation, rapid urbanization, human demographic shifts, social and economic inequalities and a pandemic.
The key findings of the Working Group II Report from IPPC show that risks are projected in the or the near-term (2021–2040), the mid (2041–2060) and long term (2081–2100). At different global warming levels and for pathways that overshoot 1.5°C global warming level for multiple decades.
Some of the observed and projected impacts and risks in the near term are:
- Human-induced climate change, including more frequent and intense extreme events, has caused widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people, beyond natural climate variability.
- Widespread, pervasive impacts to ecosystems, people, settlements, and infrastructure have resulted from observed increases in the frequency and intensity of climate and weather extremes, including hot extremes on land and in the ocean, heavy precipitation events, drought, and fire weather
- Climate change has caused substantial damages, and increasingly irreversible losses, in terrestrial, freshwater and coastal and open ocean marine ecosystems
- Climate change including increases in frequency and intensity of extremes have reduced food and water security, hindering efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goals
- Climate change has adversely affected physical health of people globally and mental health of people in the assessed regions. Climate change impacts on health are mediated through natural and human systems, including economic and social conditions and disruptions. In all regions extreme heat events have resulted in human mortality and morbidity
- In urban settings, observed climate change has caused impacts on human health, livelihoods and key infrastructure. Multiple climate and non-climate hazards impact cities, settlements and infrastructure and sometimes coincide, magnifying damage. Hot extremes including heatwaves have intensified in cities, where they have also aggravated air pollution events and limited functioning of key infrastructure.
4. Future Adaptation Options and their Feasibility
While model-based assessments of the impacts of overshoot pathways are limited, observations and current understanding of processes permit assessment of impacts from overshoot. Additional warming, e.g., above 1.5°C during an overshoot period this century, will result in irreversible impacts on certain ecosystems with low resilience, such as polar, mountain, and coastal ecosystems, impacted by ice-sheet, glacier melt, or by accelerating and higher committed sea level rise. Risks to human systems will increase, including those to infrastructure, low-lying coastal settlements, some ecosystem-based adaptation measures, and associated livelihoods, cultural and spiritual values.
Within energy system transitions, the most feasible adaptation options support infrastructure resilience, reliable power systems and efficient water use for existing and new energy generation systems. Energy generation diversification, including with renewable energy resources and generation that can be decentralized depending on context (e.g., wind, solar, small scale hydroelectric) and demand side management (e.g., energy storage, and energy efficiency improvements) can reduce vulnerabilities to climate change, especially in rural populations. Climate responsive energy markets, updated design standards on energy assets according to current and projected climate change, smart-grid technologies, robust transmission systems and improved capacity to respond to supply deficits have high feasibility in the medium- to long-term, with mitigation co-benefits.
If you are a homeowner and would like to make your own energy assessment about your property, the amount of energy you are consuming and how you can help the planet with the implementation of energy generation diversification with renewable energy click here to be contacted by an energy professional and help adapting our society towards a more sustainable and responsible human race.
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Diego and Jennifer, lead a team of solar experts with +7 years experience in over 22 different states in America. We would love to help you switch to solar the right way!
Get a professional and honest solar quote
Diego and Jennifer, lead a team of solar experts with +7 years experience in over 22 different states in America. We would love to help you switch to solar the right way!
