By Lucia Caballero (Environment and Energy/Editorial Coordinator Madrid), Jan 1 (The Conversation). He started wearing blue in terms of the environment as the year is coming to an end.
January 2021 marked beginning of the Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development. This was proclamated by the United Nations and will continue until the end of 2030.
Josep Llus Pelegr, director of the Institute of Marine Sciences CSIC (ICM-CSIC), has explained to us what the goal of this initiative is: to promote management of oceans and coasts based scientific knowledge. This makes healthy oceans one of our pillars to the progress of all humanity.
It will be difficult, if it is not impossible, for sick seas to sustain sustainable development.
They have a large biodiversity, regulate greenhouse gases, and are great repositories and distributors for solar energy.
Oceans 21 was born out of the beginning of this decade.
Over the last few months, there have been many articles in it that describe the situation at the oceans around the world and discuss some of their main problems, like noise pollution or climate change.
A new IPCC report
The evaluation provides new evidence to support the claim that climate change is due to human activities. The analysis shows that global warming is increasing and sea levels are rising. Extreme weather events (heat waves and torrential rains) have also increased in frequency and severity due to human activities.
Fernando Valladares from the National Museum of Natural Sciences believes that reducing greenhouse gas emissions will require slowing down economic growth, reorganizing energy generation, transforming transportation, reducing intensive farming and livestock, and transforming urban areas.
However, reversing this process is becoming more difficult. Manuel de Castro Muoz de Lucas is Professor of Earth Physics at University of Castilla-La Mancha. He points out that even if we could drastically reduce emissions, it would take several centuries for the global average surface temperatures to return to their normal levels. pre-industrial.
2021, the year of extremes. During this year, signs of a climatic acceleration could be seen. It was premiered in Spain, with a strong wave of snow and cold that paralyzed whole cities.
Filomena also caused severe damage to families in energy poverty as Mara Teresa Critu Vilches (Eduardo Torroja Institute of Construction Sciences – CSIC) & Miguel ngel Navas Martn – Carlos III Health Institute).
Storms and floods swept through Germany in summer as unusual heat waves ravaged the United States and Canada. Antonio Ruiz de Elvira Professor of Applied Physics at University of Alcal says that the problem in all cases is that there aren’t any protocols to deal with these phenomena.
The fires are the other mainstays in summer. The current generation, which is becoming increasingly voracious and difficult for them to put out, is called the sixth generation.
Rosa Mara Canals, professor of Agri-Food Engineering and Rural Areas at The Public University of Navarra, said that they release such a lot of energy that it is capable of developing their own behavior and generating unpredictable winds that allow them the ability to spread in an unpredictable way.
Professor at the University of Lleida Vctor Resco assures us we are entering an era of fires that cannot be put out, those that can burn for several weeks or months and only go out when it rains.
The climate summit 2021 was overshadowed by another important United Nations initiative, the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( COP26 ), which took place in Glasgow last November.
Pedro Linares (Comillas Pontifical University), Anna Traveset IMEDEA – CSIC – UIB), Cristina Linares Gil (Carlos III Health Institute), Gemma Durn Romero, Roberto lvarez Fernndez (“Nebrija University”) and Vctor Resco De Dis (University of Lleida”) gave us an assessment of this summit and the resulting Climate Pact.
This meeting was a step forward. It was recommended that countries review their emission reduction pledges. Good intentions were also expressed in terms of economic assistance to the poorest areas, investment in health projects, and forest protection.
However, there are still questions. One of these is the climate finance plan, and the list of contributors. On the other hand it was proposed that coal be eliminated and that fossil fuel aid be ended, but no concrete measures have been put in place.
These aspects will take shape over the next few years. The countries have already agreed to meet in Egypt in November 2022 to make more ambitious pledges to reduce their emissions. We will see if they arrive prepared. (The Conversation). CPS
(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff. It is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.
