The most legitimate people in climate science met on Monday to deliver a warning to the world’s leaders: global greenhouse gas emissions MUST halt completely by 2050, or we risk crossing over to a point of no return for our environment. This would require, for example, reducing coal power to 0-2%. Big stuff, serious news. So, how did our pollies respond? In short, they brushed it off with a whole lot of ‘we need coal!’ and ‘we’re on target to reduce emissions’. In reality, there has been a steady increase in emissions in Australia since 2013.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that a 2C increase in global temperature (we’re currently at 1.5C) would see –
- The loss of 99% of the world’s reef systems
- Acidification of the oceans and poisoning of fish
- An increase in average sea levels by 10cm
- Drought-stricken and flood ravaged communities
- The loss of the amazon forests (and associated animals)
- The melting of polar ice and eradication of arctic wildlife
This IPCC report is another figurative nail in the coffin for an earth already plagued by overpopulation issues and choked with ocean plastic. Panic should be setting in now about the future of the planet, but the response of the Australian government to this week’s climate change death sentence was at best, lack lustre. So, I beg the question, why doesn’t anyone care?
Maddi Howard