Two devastating international reports warn that The Amazon is on the brink of large-scale collapse and that gas emissions increasereaching a new record, these will therefore be warnings which will undoubtedly mark the negotiations of the COP29 next November.
According to a document promoted by international organizations Future Earth, The Earth League and World Climate Research Program, climate change is altering “vital planetary processes» in the oceans, placing the Amazon “on the brink of large-scale collapse” and even threatening the birth of the next generations, reversing “decades of progress in reproductive health”.
Ten perspectives
The document, titled Ten new perspectives in climate science, draws attention to the collapse of the Amazon and summarizes climate research from the past 18 months with the aim of inspiring policymakers who will negotiate at the next climate summit.
In the pages of the book, a further twist is given to the climate problems on which international specialists are working, particularly since the signing of the Paris Agreement, approved at COP21.
The first three ideas emphasize we must stop the increase in methane levels -which have increased since 2006- by reducing their emissions and applying “cost-effective solutions”, by reducing air pollution – the text recognizes that it has decreased and that this has “considerably” improved public health – and taking into account of increasing temperatures and humidity levels, which “They push people beyond the limits of habitability“.
Extreme climates
The report also highlights how extreme climates harm reproductive well-being “putting pregnant women and unborn children at risk,” stating that “devastating» the global effects of ocean changes such as El Niño or the circulation of currents in the Atlantic Ocean, and proposes biocultural diversity to “strengthen the resilience of the Amazon in the face of climate change”, combining it with a “rapid reduction of broadcasts to the world”.
Three other points refer to the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to “more frequent and intense” climate risks, the dthe challenges of developing cities resilient to climate change – “very few” have integrated mitigation and adaptation strategies, he says – and the lack of governance and competition for the minerals necessary for the energy transition.
The tenth and final point refers to “equity, acceptance and resistance” to climate policieswhich will be accepted if the public understands the “determining factor” of the concept of climate justice, but rejected if citizens’ concerns are ignored.
Vulnerable population
The signatory scientists urge policymakers at the upcoming climate summit in Baku to “reflect on this data when updating their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)” because “Global temperature records push Paris Agreement goals further away and increase threats to maternal health,” particularly in the most vulnerable countries.
In this sense, Professor Joyashree Roy, from the Asian Institute of Technology, recalled that according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 40% of the world’s population is already “very vulnerable”. to the constant increase in temperaturesThus, “ignoring the dispositions and needs of citizens when designing and implementing climate policies will result in the loss of many opportunities” by generating a “weakened and ineffective climate policy”.
Earth League co-president Johan Rockström also insisted on confirming “planetary-scale” changes that are leading to areas of the Earth “beyond the limits of habitability“, while specifying that the report also provides “clear solutions” which would avoid “unmanageable results, with urgent and decisive measures”.
New emissions record
In addition to the worrying report on the collapse of the Amazon, there is another document that brings another negative aspect, it is prepared by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and warns that Greenhouse gas levels hit new record in 2023leading the planet to an increase in temperatures for many years.
With the data in hand, carbon dioxide (CO₂) is accumulating in the atmosphere at a rate never seen before in human history, and has increased by more than 10% in just two decades.
During the year 2023, CO₂ emissions from large wildfires and a possible reduction in carbon uptake by forests, combined with persistent phenomena high fossil fuel emissions from human and industrial activitieswill be the driving force behind the increase, depending on Annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin of the WMO.
Another year. another disk
In 2023, the global average concentration of CO₂ On the surface, it reached 420.0 parts per million (ppm), methane 1,934 parts per billion and nitrous oxide 336.9 parts per billion (ppb). These values represent 151%, 265% and 125% of pre-industrial levels (before 1750), as shown.
These values are calculated based on long-term observations within the network of stations. Monitoring of the global atmosphere.
“Another year. Another record. This should sound the alarm to decision-makers. We are clearly far from reaching the Paris Agreement goal of limit global warming to well below 2°C and aim for an increase of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. “These are more than just statistics,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in a statement.
“Each part per million and fraction of a degree of increase in temperature has a real impact on our lives and on our planet,” says Saulo.
