‘A code red for humanity’: Landmark climate report says global warming limit to be hit within 20 years
Heatwaves, flooding and droughts will be more frequent and more intense as the world is set to hit the 1.5C global warming limit in the next 20 years, a landmark United Nations review has predicted.
The milestone scientific assessment says the rate of warming in the last 2,000 years has been “unprecedented” and it was “unequivocal” that human influence is already responsible for 1.1C of global warming since 1850.
Every inhabited region on Earth is already impacted by climate change and the report found that the accepted 1.5C limit will be met even in the best case scenario, causing more regular extreme weather events.
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, more than 190 governments agreed the world should limit global warming to 2C or ideally 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
Hot extremes are taking hold around the world. Pic: IPCC
The report warns that even in the best case scenarios, some changes are already locked in to our systems, including sea level rise. This will never be reversed, not even under the lowest scenario.
The language in the review is bolder than the last equivalent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN’s climate science body, which in 2013 called human influence on the climate system “clear”.
The “good news” in the report, said Dr Joeri Rogelj, climate change lecturer at Imperial College London, was that if the world did achieve net zero by 2050, there was a “significant chance” that we eventually stabilise below 1.5C.
Lead author Dr Tamsin Edwards told Sky News: “That is something people may see as optimistic, but we’re not there, and we are on higher emissions pathways at the moment that would lead to much greater climate change.”
Unless there are “immediate, rapid and large scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions”, the 1.5C target will be beyond reach, she added.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the study made for “sobering reading” and that the next decade would be “pivotal to securing the future of our planet”.
This is the first time the influential group of scientists could say climate change is already impacting every single region on the planet.
This “major new development” is thanks to advances in attribution science – which assesses human influence on weather – said a report author Dr Friederike Otto, associate climate professor at Oxford University.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Sky burns orange as Greek fires force evacuations
Labour’s Ed Miliband said the report “confirms in prose” what recent fires and floods had shown in picture: that “climate breakdown has already begun… and that extraordinary changes to our planet – from heavier rains and ocean acidification to glacier melt to sea-level rise – are already baked in for centuries to come”.
“Thanks to reports like this, the paths of our different futures are now mapped and modelled in front of us; and we still have a choice about the path to which we will commit ourselves and future generations,” the shadow business secretary said.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Residents flee Greek island engulfed in flames
The IPCC investigated five future scenarios based on how much carbon dioxide the world continues to emit and what we do to compensate.
They found that even under the most optimistic pathway, which assumes “very low” emissions and achieving net zero around 2050, the world will hit 1.5 degrees in the next 20 years – though it could level off at 1.4C towards the end of the century.
In a briefing, a group of eight of the lead authors were at pains to stress that the goal of limiting warming to 1.5C was not a “cliff edge”.
“The consequences get worse and worse and worse as we get warmer and warmer,” said Ed Hawkins, climate science professor at Reading University. “And so every tonne of CO2 matters and every bit of warming matters.”
As in previous years, the report will likely set the scene for this year’s annual UN climate change negotiations, COP26, in Glasgow.
Many countries including the UK have pledged by 2050 to reach net zero – which means reducing emissions as much as possible and offsetting the rest – but have been criticised for failing to match this rhetoric with action.
Greenpeace UK’s chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said this generation of world leaders was the “last that can afford to ignore” the “gravity of the climate crisis”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Cars float away in more Belgium flooding
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
House swept along river in Germany floods
Dr Parr said the increased “frequency, scale and intensity of climate disasters that have scorched and flooded many parts of the world in recent months is the result of past inaction”.
“We need concrete policies to cut carbon emissions as fast as possible, phase out fossil fuels, transform our food system and deliver more cash to the countries worst hit by the climate crisis.”
A map shows how human influence is influencing rainfall and precipitation. Pic: IPCC
The report cautioned 2C warming would likely breach extreme heat thresholds for agriculture and health.
The assessment found carbon removal could reverse some of the increase in global temperatures – although a lot of this technology is unproven to work at scale, says Friends of the Earth.
Subscribe to ClimateCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Spreaker.
Sky News has launched the first daily prime time news show dedicated to climate change.
The Daily Climate Show is broadcast at 6.30pm and 9.30pm Monday to Friday on Sky News, the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.
Hosted by Anna Jones, it follows Sky News correspondents as they investigate how global warming is changing our landscape and how we all live our lives.
The show also highlights solutions to the crisis and how small changes can make a big difference.
China has been branded “a bully” and an international lawbreaker after its ships blasted Philippine vessels with water cannon in the South China Sea.
Sky News was on board the BRP Bagacay when a Chinese vessel fired water at it, causing significant damage.
Philippine coastguard spokesman Jay Tarriela told Sky News that this week’s confrontation was the first time China had used “such aggression” against their ships.
“The metal parts and the railing were bent. The canopy was also destroyed. So this came as a surprise for us that China never hesitated to use brute force,” he said.
“It completely justifies us calling The People’s Republic of China a bully country.”
Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the Philippine Coastguard, told Sky News that China is a ‘bully’
The Philippine coastguard was on a resupply mission to the Scarborough Shoal to deliver food and fuel to Philippine fishermen when they were struck.
The submerged reef lies in disputed waters. China claims sovereignty over the reef but it is much closer to the Philippines and lies within its legally recognised exclusive economic zone.
The vessel Sky News was on board was the closest the coastguard had ever been to the shoal – just 600 metres away from it.
Asked if the mission to the shoal was a provocative move by the Philippine coastguard, Commodore Tarriela denied they were “poking the bear” but rather “driving the bear out of our own territory”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Sky witnesses China-Philippine confrontation
The Philippines has been stepping up its patrols in the area under the instruction of President Bongbong Marcos, and reasserting its claim to the shoal in recent months.
It has raised the spectre of open conflict. While neither side currently wants that, there is now a greater threat of open conflict.
Asked what the end game was for the Philippines, Commodore Tarriela said their priority was to “tell the world” about China’s aggression.
China’s coastguard fired water at Philippine coastguard vessel BRP Bagacay while Sky was onboard
He said their secondary goal was to ensure “like-minded states” also made China “fall in line and respect international law”.
“Otherwise, it’s everybody’s loss,” he added.
Read more:
US accuses Beijing of ‘bullying’ in South China Sea
China building airstrip on disputed island, satellite images suggest
Philippine government policy is not to resist using water cannon against Chinese vessels – and Commodore Tarriela insisted that policy remains in place after the confrontation.
The government also remains intensely determined to protect the waters it believes it has every right to operate in.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
“We’re not going to yield and we’re not going to surrender a square inch of our territory,” Commodore Tarriela insisted.
Beijing has called the action its own coastguard took as “necessary”.
Speaking at the Chinese foreign ministry’s daily news conference, spokesperson Lin Jian described the coastguard’s conduct as “professional, proper, and lawful”.
World
Three charged over killing of Sikh separatist leader in Canada – in incident which sparked diplomatic spat with India
Three suspects have been charged by Canadian police over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Vancouver last June, in an incident that sparked a diplomatic spat between Ottawa and New Delhi.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a temple by masked gunmen in Surrey, outside Vancouver, on 18 June 2023.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police assistant commissioner David Teboul said police could not comment on the nature of the evidence or the motive.
“This matter is very much under active investigation,” Teboul said.
The three suspects – Indian nationals Kamalpreet Singh, Karan Brar and Karampreet Singh – were arrested in Edmonton, Alberta, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
Superintendent Mandeep Mooker said: “This investigation does not end here. We are aware that others may have played a role in this homicide and we remain dedicated to finding and arresting each one of these individuals.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Canada killing ‘linked’ to India govt
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparked a diplomatic feud with India when he said in September that there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the killing. India angrily denied involvement.
Mr Nijjar, an Indian-born citizen of Canada, was a leader in what remains of the Khalistan movement – a once-strong group calling for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland.
He was organising an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh nation at the time of this death and had denied allegations of ties to terrorism.
The Khalistan movement has lost much of its power but is still supported by some in the Punjab state in northwestern India and in the Sikh diaspora overseas.
More from Sky News:
China launches world first Space mission
Four babies found dead in freezer
A violent, decade-long Sikh insurgency shook north India in the 1970s and 1980s, and was ultimately crushed in a government crackdown which saw thousands of people killed, including prominent Sikh leaders.
In June 1984, Indian forces stormed the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar, where separatists had taken refuge.
In more recent years, the Indian government has repeatedly warned that Sikh separatists were trying to make a comeback.
Read more: What is the Khalistan movement?
Mr Trudeau’s accusation angered India PM Narendra Modi. File pic: AP
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The diplomatic row saw diplomats expelled by both India and Canada.
The Indian government said it “completely rejected” Mr Trudeau’s allegations and added: “We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.”
The dispute derailed trade talks between the two countries and ultimately saw Canada withdraw 41 of its 62 diplomats in India.
At the time, Canada did not provide public evidence to back up Mr Trudeau’s allegations. However, it did reveal the claims were based on intelligence provided by a major ally and surveillance of Indian diplomats in the country.
Heavy rains in southern Brazil have killed 37 people, local authorities have said, with dozens still unaccounted for.
More than 70 people are missing and at least 23,000 people have been displaced in Rio Grande do Sul, according to the state’s civil defence agency.
In some cities, water levels have been at their highest since records began almost 150 years ago, the Brazilian Geological Service said.
It said the flooding is the worst to hit the state in more than 80 years, surpassing that of a historic deluge in 1941.
Roads have been turned into rivers in several towns, with bridges destroyed and the storm triggering landslides and the partial collapse of a dam structure at a hydroelectric power plant.
A drone view of Lajeado in Rio Grande do Sul. Pic: Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via Reuters
Residents near to a second dam in the city of Bento Goncalves have been ordered to evacuate, as fears of another collapse grow.
“It’s not just another critical situation, it’s probably the most critical case the state has ever recorded,” Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite said on social media.
He added the number of deaths will likely rise as authorities have not been able to reach some locations.
A birds-eye view of the flooding in Sao Sebastiao do Cai, in Rio Grande do Sul. Pic: AP
The devastation in Lajaedo. Pic: Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via Reuters
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has travelled to the state to visit affected locations and discuss rescue efforts with the governor.
The state is at a geographical meeting point between tropical and polar atmospheres, which has created periods of intense rains and others of drought.
Scientists believe the pattern has been intensifying due to climate change.
Roads have been turned into rivers in several towns. Pic: AP
Heavy rains hit the state last September, as an extratropical cyclone caused floods that killed more than 50 people.
That came after more than two years of a persistent drought due to the La Nina phenomenon.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Environment12 months agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports6 months agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Sports4 weeks agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Technology3 years ago
Game consoles were once banned in China. Now Chinese developers want a slice of the $49 billion pie