Climate change: part of the impact of global warming is already "irreversible", warns the ONU
Muchos de los impactos del calentamiento global son ya “irreversibles”, según la última evaluación de la ONU.
Fuente: BBC News Mundo https://www.bbc.com/mundo/
Even so, the authors of this new report, published this Monday and which updates what is known about global warming and its effects since 2014, point out that there is still a short time to avoid the worst.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that humans and nature are being pushed beyond their ability to adapt.
Más del 40% de la población mundial es “altamente vulnerable” al clima, de acuerdo al sombrío estudio.
However, he adds that there is hope that if the increase in temperature is kept below 1.5 °C, the projected losses will be reduced.
Just four months after COP26, where world leaders pledged to take swift action to curb climate change, this new UN study reveals the scale of their task
“Nuestro informe indica claramente que los lugares donde la gente vive y trabaja pueden dejar de existir, que los ecosistemas y las especies con los que todos hemos crecido y que son fundamentales para nuestras culturas y conforman nuestras lenguas pueden desaparecer”, dijo Debra Roberts, copresidenta del IPCC.
“Así que este es realmente un momento clave. Nuestro informe señala muy claramente que esta es la década de acción, si vamos a cambiar las cosas”.
Causes, impacts and solutions
The IPCC report is the second of three reviews by the world's leading body of climate researchers.
The first, published last August, highlighted the scale of the effect humans were having on the climate system.
This new report looks at the causes, impacts and solutions to climate change. It gives the clearest indication to date of how a warmer world is affecting all living things on Earth.
The document is a stark account of the ferocious consequences the world is already experiencing, such as a growing number of people dying from heat.
But the authors say there is still a short window of time to avoid the worst.
“Una de las cosas que creo que está muy, muy, clara en el informe es que sí, las cosas están mal, pero en realidad, el futuro depende de nosotros, no del clima“, señaló Helen Adams, autora principal del informe, y científica del King’s College de Londres.
The analysis shows that extreme weather events related to climate change, such as floods and heat waves, are affecting humans and other species far more than previous assessments indicated.
While everyone is affected, some are being hit much harder, depending on the region they live in.
Between 2010 and 2020, for example, 15 times more people died from floods, droughts and storms in highly vulnerable regions - including parts of Central and South America, Africa and South Asia - than in other parts of the world. .
Coral reefs are bleaching and dying from rising temperatures, while many trees are succumbing to drought.
Scenarios
Si el aumento de las temperaturas alcanza 1,5 °C sobre los niveles de la década de 1850 (superando el 1,1°C actual), el aumento continuo y acelerado del nivel del mar afectará cada vez más a los asentamientos costeros empujándolos hacia la “inmersión y la pérdida”.
Under all emissions scenarios, the IPCC expects an additional 1 billion people to be at risk from specific hazards to coastlines in the coming decades.
If temperatures rise by between 1.7°C and 1.8°C, the report states that half of the human population could be exposed to periods of life-threatening weather conditions resulting from heat and humidity.
El secretario general de la ONU, Antonio Guterres, describió al informe como un “atlas del sufrimiento humano”, y dijo no tener ninguna duda de quién tiene la culpa.
“Los hechos son innegables. Esta abdicación del liderazgo es criminal. Los mayores contaminadores del mundo son culpables del incendio intencionado en nuestro único hogar”.
No a las “soluciones” tecnológicas
Diseases are likely to spread more rapidly in coming decades, the study authors warn.
There is a particular risk that changing climatic conditions will facilitate the spread of mosquito-borne dengue fever to billions more by the end of this century.
In addition to physical health impacts, for the first time the report says climate change may be exacerbating mental health issues, including stress and trauma related to extreme weather events and loss of livelihoods and culture.
As for solving problems with technology, the report dismisses ideas like deflecting the sun's rays or removing carbon dioxide from the air, warning that they could make things worse.
El resumen para los formuladores de políticas se enfoca en cambio en el “desarrollo de resiliencia al clima”, que contribuye -según dicen los autores- a desarrollar la fuerza necesaria para hacer frente al cambio climático en cada sociedad.
“Si nuestras vías de desarrollo son aquellas en las que los sistemas de salud no mejoran mucho, la educación no mejora mucho, nuestras economías no crecen muy rápido y la desigualdad sigue siendo un gran problema, ese es un mundo donde una parte concreta de cambio climático va a tener un impacto realmente grande”, enfatiza Brian O’Neill, autor y coordinador principal del informe.
“En cambio, si es un mundo en el que realmente estamos progresando rápidamente en educación, salud y pobreza, si el cambio climático se impone en esa sociedad, el riesgo será mucho menor”.
