Earlier this week, a U.N. climate panel released a report warning that the world will face further climate disruptions for at least 30 years to come. The report, conducted by scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is the most honest treatise on climate change to date. In the past, climate change studies have hinted at the fact that rising temperatures, wild swings in weather patterns, widespread droughts, and increasing instances of flooding all over the globe are due to human causes. The difference with the 2021 report is that it states unequivocally that humans are to blame for climate change.
The IPCC report drew data from more than 14,000 studies and offers the most comprehensive and detailed picture of how climate change is changing our planet, and what we can expect in the years and decades ahead if we fail to act immediately. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres described the report as a “code red for humanity.” “The alarm bells are deafening,” he said in a statement. “This report must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels before they destroy our planet.”
The report revealed that unless immediate and large-scale action is taken to reduce carbon emissions, the average global temperature is likely to reach or cross the 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warming threshold within 20 years. Emissions are at the heart of this debacle, and years of pumping CO2 into the atmosphere have already pushed the average global temperature up 1.1C from its pre-industrial average. We saw the effects of intense heat waves this summer in Oregon and Canada. The exceptionally high temperatures led to spikes in sudden deaths and sharp increases in hospital visits for heat-related illnesses and emergency calls
The report also says that climate change is not just about rising temperatures. Climate change is making an impact in other ways as well. For example, we are seeing changes in wind, ice, snowpacks, and rainfall. The water cycle has been affected, causing more intense rainfall downpours and flooding (just look at the flooding in Germany). In higher latitudes, rainfall is likely to increase, while it will decrease in subtropical regions, and monsoon patterns also vary according to region. Coastal areas will experience rising sea levels, resulting in more frequent and severe coastal flooding and erosion. Continued warming will result in shrinking ice sheets, glaciers, and permafrost, and cause more frequent oceanic heatwaves, ocean acidification, and reduced oxygen levels.
The U.N. COP26 climate conference will meet in Glasgow, Scotland in three months, and it is my hope that this conference will take this latest report seriously, and develop a much more ambitious climate action plan to cut emissions, and reduce the level of greenhouse gases. Since the 1950s, we have been pumping excess amounts of CO2 into our atmosphere, and we are now seeing the damaging and deadly effects of our actions. However, the deleterious effects may not be felt immediately by my generation, but if we continue on this road, our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will pay the price for our inaction.
Here in New Mexico our climate is getting drier and hotter, driven by regional and global warming trends. As with much of the Southwest, we have been experiencing earlier springs, hotter summers, and less predictable winters. Precipitation patterns have changed, with longer dry spells and more intense episodes of rainfall, along with shrinking snowpacks in the mountains, and earlier snowmelts. All of these factors contribute to lower stream and river levels during the spring and summer months, creating a negative impact on communities and agriculture. Our state can benefit from efforts to reduce the effects of drought, reduced water levels, as well as the threat of wildfires to our homes and forests.
What can we do?
The change will not be easy, especially since New Mexico relies so heavily on oil and gas revenue. It will be expensive, and there will be resistance from fossil fuel proponents and lobbyists. However, we are lucky enough to have abundant sunshine and wind, as well as geothermal resources that can serve as renewable energy sources. The challenges include managing energy demands through investments in energy-efficient homes, businesses, and industries, and establishing an affordable strategy to transition away from our dependence on fossil fuels as well as retiring high-emission coal plants.