United in Science: New UN report highlights climate emergency
A report released recently by the UN, ‘United in Science’ collates the latest climate knowledge and makes for alarming reading
‘United in Science’ is a recent report compiled by the World Meteorological Organization on behalf of the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres. It attempts to bring together the latest climate science related updates from a group of key global partner organisations. Here, Guterres rings the UN Peace Bell on World Peace Day. Photo: @antonioguterres / Twitter.
‘United in Science’ is a recent report compiled by the World Meteorological Organization on behalf of the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. It attempts to bring together the latest climate science-related updates from a group of key global partner organisations. Here, Guterres rings the UN Peace Bell on World Peace Day. Photo: @antonioguterres / Twitter.
The report makes a number of worrying observations about the climate crisis facing the world. For instance, sea-level rise has accelerated, threatening lives and livelihoods, according to the report. It will continue for centuries. Here, melting sea ice in the Arctic is seen. Photo: Pink floyd88 a / Twitter.
Here is a graphical representation by the authors of the report about the decrease in the extent of Arctic sea ice.
This is how the extent of Antarctic sea ice has decreased according to the report.
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic had been attributed as the cause for the decrease in greenhouse gas emissions in 2020. However, carbon dioxide emissions have largely bounced back to pre-pandemic levels, according to ‘United in Science’. Here, a blue sky is seen above Humayun’s tomb in Delhi in March 2020. Photo by Akshay Jaitly, shared by @dkhare on Twitter.
This graph shows the changes in carbon dioxide emissions over the past three years.
COVID-19 infections and climate hazards such as heatwaves, wildfires and poor air quality combine to threaten human health worldwide, putting vulnerable populations at particular risk, the report says. Here, smoke rises above a district in Mizoram after a massive forest fire earlier this year. Photo from Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga’s handle.
This chart shows the temperature anomaly relative to 1981-2010.
There is a 40 per cent chance that one year up to 2025 will be 1.5 degrees centigrade warmer than pre-industrial times, according to ‘United in Science’. Photo used for representational purposes.
This chart shows the global mean temperature difference from 1850-1900.
