On August 9th, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, part of the United Nations, released a report on climate change which many have deemed a ‘code red for humanity.’

The report, which was published on Monday, is the sixth from the IPCC since 1988 and has been eight years in the making. The document states that it is ‘unequivocal’ that ‘human influence has warmed the atmosphere, oceans and land.’ Essentially – there is no one else to blame but ourselves.

Essentially – there is no one else to blame but ourselves

The IPCC report has predicted that the world is set to hit the 1.5C global warming limit within the next 20 years, which, if it happens, will breach the ambition of the 2015 Paris climate agreement. UN secretary general António Guterres warned:

‘[This report] is a code red for humanity. The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk.’

One of the main points outlined in the report is the rising sea levels. Professor Malte Meinshausen from the University of Melbourne and an IPCC author explained that ‘even with 1.5C warming we’re looking at the long-term [rise] of two to three metres.’ However, we could be looking at multimeter sea-level rise by 2150. Even if the rise in sea-levels is relatively mild, it will have knock-on effects that we will not be able to avoid. 

‘With gradual sea-level rise, those extreme sea-level events that have occurred in the past, just once per century, will occur more and more frequently in the future… Those that occurred only once per century in the past are expected to occur once or twice per decade by mid-century,’ Valérie Masson-Delmotte, co-chair of the IPCC working group explained.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg weighed in on the situation, stating that this report just ‘confirms what we already know,’ and took to social media to say: ‘We can still avoid the worst consequences, but not if we continue like today, and not without treating the crisis like a crisis.’

So what can we do? According to the IPCC, around 0.3C of the 1.1C that the world has already warmed by comes from methane, so tackling those emissions from the oil and gas industry, agriculture and rice cultivation, could help the situation in the short-term. Fred Krupp, from the US Environmental Defense Fund, has stated that ‘there is no faster, more achievable way to slow the rate of warming than by cutting human-caused methane emissions.’

It is hard to believe that this planet, which is in grave danger, is the same one where billionaires are flying to space, clothing consumption is at an all time high, and oil is still spilling into the ocean

It is hard to believe that this planet, which is in grave danger, is the same one where billionaires are flying to space, clothing consumption is at an all time high, and oil is still spilling into the ocean. The science is in front of us; we are being told again and again that it is our responsibility to save the planet, and yet, there is still a disconnect. 

A perfect example of this is Boris Johnson’s decision to travel by private plane from London to Cornwall for the G7 summit. Instead of taking the 250-mile train journey from Paddington in London, Johnson flew from Stansted to a summit which included climate change as one of the main points on the agenda. According to the government’s own emission figures, taking a plane creates almost five times more greenhouse gas emissions than the equivalent train journey. When called out for his choice of transport, Johnson stated defensively that ‘the UK is actually in the lead in developing sustainable aviation fuel.’

Are people just in denial, so arrogant as to assume that the planet cannot really die at our hands? Or do they just not care? According to the IPCC’s report, it no longer matters in any case. Time has run out and we need to act now. 

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