[ad_1]
“Our people and the planet are getting clobbered by climate change. Nearly half of humanity lives in the danger zone right now. Many ecosystems are at risk. The facts are undeniable,” Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations (UN) remarked in unveiling the latest international report on the impacts of climate change. “This abdication of leadership is criminal. The world’s biggest polluters are guilty of arson on our only home.”
These words were spoken by the UN chief to reflect the conclusions of the most thorough examination to date on the ongoing impacts of climate changes and the potential risks. The second part of a three-part scientific analysis detailing how climate change is occurring, its impacts, and possible solutions, was prepared by 270 scientists representing 67 countries. This is the sixth such assessment, dating back to 1990.
The alarm bells have been ringing ever since computer climate models first appeared in the 1970s. Any further delay in concerted global action on climate change, the report warns, means the world “will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.”
The invocation of a potentially “unliveable” future is backed up by the report’s contents, which clarifies that a humanitarian crisis is already unfolding.
“Increasing weather and climate extreme events,” the authors note, “have exposed millions of people to acute food insecurity and reduced water security.” In Africa, for instance, climate change has reduced agricultural productivity by 34 percent over the past six decades. The report warns that further temperature increases could lead to food insecurity and poor nutrition, particularly in the most vulnerable countries.
Further, climate change is “increasingly driving displacement in all regions, with small island states disproportionately affected.” In 2019 alone, 13 million people in Asia and Africa became climate refugees due to flooding and other extreme weather.
Climate change has already had a significant impact on health in every region of the world. This includes heat waves, increased vector-borne diseases, increased exposure to wildfire smoke and the collapse of health care systems during disasters. “Climate change and related extreme events will significantly increase ill health and premature deaths from the near- to long-term,” according to the report.
All told, an estimated 3.3 to 3.6 billion people “live in contexts that are highly vulnerable to climate change.” By 2050—in less than three decades—the more than 1 billion people living in low-lying areas of coastal cities will face escalating threats from floods. By the end of the century, half to three-quarters of the world’s population could experience “life-threatening climatic conditions” due to unbearable heat and humidity.
In such circumstances, adaptation to extreme climates is difficult. Large-scale infrastructure improvement measures to combat heat waves and drought are needed. Projects currently underway, the report notes however, have mostly been “fragmented, small in scale, incremental, sector-specific, designed to respond to current impacts or near-term risks, and focused more on planning rather than implementation.” Implementation of these projects is also highly unequal, with the “largest adaptation gaps exist[ing] among lower-income population groups.”
Capitalist governments have failed to address this inequality by promising mutual aid and making commitments by banks that they will invest in adaptation projects for developing countries. The poor and working class are most affected by climate disasters. This is especially true when extreme weather events like hurricanes or wildfires occur more frequently and are more devastating.
The report also highlights the link between human society and natural systems. The destruction and loss of ecosystems increase our vulnerability to climate change and limit our adaptation options. The destruction of habitats and widespread pollution in the environment can lead to an increase in climate change vulnerability for remaining ecosystems.
The consequences for biodiversity can be devastating. The report states that 14 percent of all terrestrial and freshwater species are at risk of extinction, even if global temperatures rise by 1.5 C. “Climate change has caused substantial damages and increasingly irreversible losses, in terrestrial, freshwater and coastal and open ocean marine ecosystems.”
Every year and every degree can make a difference in limiting these irreversible and devastating effects. It is still possible to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, but this opportunity is rapidly diminishing. In order to achieve this goal, a 45 percent reduction of global emissions is required over the next eight year. However, the current commitments of national governments, which were reaffirmed last year in Glasgow, will result in an increase of 14 percent in global emissions over the same time period.
The stark contrast between capitalism’s current trajectory and what is needed for humanity’s future is striking. This report comes as governments across the globe abandon efforts to contain a pandemic already claiming millions of lives and as major powers get ready to launch nuclear weapons.
The IPCC assessment has no value if leaders of capitalist countries are convinced by indisputable evidence about the impending catastrophe. Every report describing the dire consequences and consequences of climate changes is met with complete failure in the annual climate summit rituals. The ruling class has shown its indifference towards mass death.
The report’s warnings make it urgent for the international working classes to unite in fighting for socialism, and fundamentally reorganize the society to meet human need and not profit.
