SNOWFALLS ARE NOW JUST A THING OF THE PAST:
● Shot:
BERLIN (AP) — Temperatures on Earth will shoot past a key danger point unless greenhouse gas emissions fall faster than countries have committed, the world’s top body of climate scientists said Monday, warning of the consequences of inaction but also noting hopeful signs of progress.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revealed “a litany of broken climate promises” by governments and corporations, accusing them of stoking global warming by clinging to harmful fossil fuels.
“It is a file of shame, cataloguing the empty pledges that put us firmly on track toward an unlivable world,” he said.
—“UN warns Earth ‘firmly on track toward an unlivable world,’” AP, last Monday.
● Chaser:
A leaked draft report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change paints the starkest picture yet of the accelerating danger caused by human use of coal, oil, and gas. It warns of coming unlivable heat waves, widespread hunger and drought, rising sea levels and extinction. To understand the report’s warnings, William Brangham turns to atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayoe.
Judy Woodruff: A leaked draft report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change paints the starkest picture yet of the real and accelerating danger caused by humans’ use of coal, oil, and gas.
William Brangham has the latest.
William Brangham: That’s right, Judy.
This is a draft report, so it may still change. And it was obtained by the AFP, the Agence France-Presse., even so, the report says the threat from climate change is real, it’s here, and it’s getting worse.
It lays out a myriad of impacts, unlivable heat waves, widespread hunger and drought, rising sea levels that will force millions from their homes, and the extinction of many species.
For a U.N. agency, the draft language is blunt, saying — quote — “The worst is yet to come, affecting our children’s and grandchildren’s lives much more than our own.”
—“A leaked UN report warns ‘worst is yet to come’ on climate change. Here’s how you can help,” NPR, June 23, 2021.
● Hangover:
In the late 1980s the U.N. was already claiming the world had only a decade to solve global warming or face the consequences.
The San Jose Mercury News reported on June 30, 1989 that a “senior environmental official at the United Nations, Noel Brown, says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the earth by rising sea levels if global warming is not reversed by the year 2000.”
That prediction didn’t come true 15 years ago, and the U.N. is sounding the same alarm today.
—“25 Years Of Predicting The Global Warming ‘Tipping Point,’” Michael Bastach, the Daily Caller, May 4, 2015.
(Classical reference in headline.)