Madrid:He began wearing blue in the year that is ending, and it was the best environment.
January 2021 marked a new Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development. It was proclaimed by The United NationsIt will last until 2030.
Josep Llu’s PelegrLlopart, director of the Institute of Marine Sciences 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 series was inspired by the beginning of this era.
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 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released in August its most comprehensive report on climate science since 2013.
The new evidence shows that climate change is caused by human activities. The analysis shows that climate change is occurring at an alarming rate.
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, Professor of Earth Physics, University of Castilla-La Mancha, points out that even if emissions were drastically reduced, it would still take many centuries for the global average temperature to return to its normal levels. pre-industrial .
2021, the year of extremes
This year, there have been some signs of a climatic acceleration. It was premiered in Spain with an intense snowstorm and freezing cold that paralyzed whole cities.
Mar a Teresa C ritu Vilches (Eduardo Torroja Institute of Construction Sciences and IETcc CSIC), and Miguel ngel Navas Mart n(Carlos III Health Institute) warned that the storm Filomena could also be a devastating blow to families living in energy poverty.
Storms and floods swept through Germany in summer as unusual heat waves ravaged the United States and Canada. Antonio Ruiz de Elvira from the University of Alcal, Professor of Applied Physics, said that all cases are problematic because there are no protocols for dealing 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.
They release so much energy that they can develop their own behavior and generate erratic winds that allow for them to spread in an unpredictable manner, warns Rosa Mar a Canals, professor of Agri-Food Engineering and Rural Areas, at the Public University of Navarra.
Professor Resco from the University of Lleida assures us that we are entering an era of fires we cannot put out, those that can burn for weeks and months and that only go out when there is rain.
The climate summit
2021 is now over with another important United Nations initiative: the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( COP26 ), that was held in Glasgow last October.
Pedro Linares (Comillas Pontifical University), Anna Traveset(IMEDEA CSIC UIB), Cristina Linares Gil, Julio D az (“Carlos III Health Institute”), Gemma Dur n Romero (“Autonomous University of Madrid”), Roberto lvarez Fern ndez [Nebrija University ] and V ctor Resco de Dis (University of Lleida”) gave us an evaluation of the 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 those is the climate finance program and the list o 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. For now, the countries have agreed that they will meet in Egypt in November 2022 for more ambitious commitments to reducing their emissions. We will see if the countries arrive at their destination with their homework completed. (The Conversation)
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