The Climate Change Emergency
Our planet will change rapidly from this point onwards. The Climate Change Emergency is an emergency like no other. Read about the consequences of 2°C or more of warming and solutions for a reduction in atmospheric emissions.
The climate change emergency
Global warming will cause changes to our environment which will have massive impacts on humanity. Likewise, the ecosystems that we share this planet with will also be impacted far more than they already are.
- From the industrial age to 2012, Earth warmed by 1°C as a result of carbon emissions to the atmosphere.
- According to the World Meteorological Organization, 2023 was the warmest year on record at 1.45 ± 0.12 °C above the pre-industrial average.
- The past nine years, 2015–2023, were the nine warmest years on record.
Recognition of the 2°C limit was achieved at Copenhagen in 2009. However, reference to 1.5°C is significant because it highlights the need to avoid the worst climate impacts and the reality that many countries will be severely affected by an increase.
In 2015 most countries committed to limiting warming to 2°C, with a stretch-target of 1.5°C. The agreed long-term goal was to keep global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and try to limit the increase to 1.5°C by the end of the century.
On this website, I will summarise the consequences of allowing our planet to warm by 2°C or more and tools in our planet’s toolkit to decelerate that warming. Referencing scientific literature, I’ll also illustrate what warming beyond 2°C could look like – as an incentive for us all to take action quickly. A snap-shot of this was provided by Mark Lynas in the promotion of his book “Our Final Warning – Six Degrees of Climate Emergency”. Links or referenced will acknowledge the source.
Most people relate climate change to sea level rise. More recently, climate change is publicly being associated with extreme weather (causing floods and fires). The impacts are far greater than both of these, and affect humanity as a whole, the global economy and our natural environment.
By December 2023, Climate Action Tracker found that Australian government’s promise to “take the country forward on climate action” has failed to deliver. The government’s overreliance on reported emissions reductions in the land sector obscures its continuous support for fossil fuels and lack of action beyond policies addressing emissions from large industrial facilities and the power sector. The new policy measures for these areas are either flawed or not effectively implemented. As a result, the CAT’s rating of Australia’s climate targets and action remains “Insufficient.”
They noted that if all other countries followed Australia’s current policies, emissions will continue to rise and are consistent with more than 3°C warming if all other countries followed a similar level of ambition.
Consequences of the climate emergency
Under the category Climate Change, I will post blogs covering the consequences of 2°C or more of warming and related topics. These posts will demonstrate the climate change emergency and will include:
- how fast is warming happening?
- impacts to global food production
- drought leading to desertification in heavily populated areas
- more frequent extreme flood events
- biodiversity loss – massive damage to our ecosystems
- extreme heat events
- social and economic impacts from climate refugees
- ocean acidification
- sea level rise affecting hundreds of millions of people
Solutions for the climate emergency
Under the category Tool Box of Solutions, I will post demonstrated and potential solutions for private and public entities to reduce atmospheric emissions, including:
- exporting emissions-intensive industries to regions with a wealth of renewables
- the use of embodied emissions accounting and reporting
- the generation of green fuels using renewable energy, renewable inputs and CO2
- mega-batteries such as pumped hydro
- renewable sources such as wind, solar, wave and nuclear energy
- a transition from a singular focus on growth in profit or GDP to approaches like Degrowth, Postgrowth and Regenerative practices.
Reading and Reference Material for the climate emergency
Under the category Reading and Reference, I will provide a range of resources to assist you in understanding the human predicament, including:
(Updated April 2024)
