Extreme phenomena such as heavy rain and floods have increased in 2023. NASA image 
Francisco Martin Leon Oct 25, 2023 10:23 7 mins
William Rippledistinguished professor at Oregon State University’s College of Forestry and former OSU postdoctoral fellow, Christopher Wolfare the lead authors of the report, and ten other U.S. and global scientists are co-authors.
Entering unknown territories
“Without action to address the fundamental problem that humanity is taking more from the Earth than it can safely give out, We are on the path to the possible collapse of natural and socioeconomic systems and a world with unbearable heat and a lack of food and fresh water,” Lobo said.
The document, “The status of the 2023 climate report: breaking new ground“, notes that 20 of the planet’s 35 signs of life with which the authors track climate change are at record levels.
The authors share new data illustrating that many climate-related records were broken “by a wide margin” in 2023.
In particular, the data is focused and related Sea temperatures and sea ice. They also point out a exceptional forest fire season in Canada resulting in unprecedented carbon dioxide emissions.
The report comes four years after the “Global scientists warn of a climate emergency” published by ripple and employees in Life Sciences and signed together by more than 15,000 scientists in 161 countries.
“Life on our planet is clearly under siege,” Ripple said. “Statistical trends reveal deeply alarming patterns of climate-related variables and disasters. We have also been able to report little progress in humanity’s fight against climate change.”
Key elements of the report
– Fossil fuel subsidies (actions by governments that artificially lower the cost of energy production, increase the price received by producers, or reduce the price paid by consumers) approximately they doubled between 2021 and 2022from $531 billion to just over $1 trillion.
– Already this year, Wildfires in Canada have pumped more than 1 gigaton of carbon dioxide into the atmospherea value higher than Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 of 0.67 gigatonnes.
– In 2023, There have already been 38 days when the global average temperature was more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Until this year, such days were a rarity, the authors note.
– Highest average temperature ever recorded on the earth’s surface It happened last July.and there is reason to believe that fIt is the highest surface temperature the planet has experienced in the last 100,000 years.
Unusual climate anomalies in 2023 (the red line, in bold). Sea ice extent (a, b), temperatures (ce), and area burned in Canada (f) are currently outside their historical ranges. These anomalies may be due to climate change as well as other factors. Sources and additional details for each variable can be found in Supplementary File S1. Each line corresponds to a different year, with the darker gray representing later years. Image taken from Leon Simons and Bioscience
“As scientists, we are enormously concerned about the sudden increase in the frequency and severity of climate-related disasters,” said Wolf, now a scientist at Corvallis-based Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Associates.
The status of the 2023 climate report: breaking new ground
We have this paper, led by William Ripple (@WilliamJRipple) & Christopher Wolf et al. published today in @OxUniPress
Key findings thread
Link to paper: https://t.co/HwfLW1nvfK
— Leon Simons (@LeonSimons8) October 24, 2023
“The frequency and severity of such disasters could outpace rising temperatures. By the end of the 21st century, between 3 and 6 billion people could be living outside the Earth’s habitable regions, meaning they will be exposed to extreme heat. Extreme and limited food availability and high mortality rates.
The authors say policies that address the underlying problem are needed: “ecological surplus“When human demand on Earth’s resources is too great, a number of problems arise.” Environmental crises, including biodiversity decline. As long as humanity continues to exert extreme pressure on the planet, Any strategy that focuses solely on carbon or climate will simply redistribute pressure, they say.
“Our goal is to communicate climate facts and make policy recommendations,” Ripple said.
“It is a moral duty of scientists and our institutions to warn humanity of potential existential threats and to show leadership in taking action.”
The authors demand a Transition to a global economy that prioritizes human well-being and limits excessive consumption and emissions by the rich. Specific recommendations include phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, switching to plant-based diets, intensifying forest conservation efforts, and adopting international fossil fuel phase-out and non-proliferation treaties.
They emphasize all of this Climate action must be based on equity and social justiceand point out that extreme weather and other climate impacts disproportionately affect the poorest people, who have contributed the least to climate change.
reference
William Ripple et al, 2023 State of the Climate Report: Entering Uncharted Territory, Life Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biad080. academic.oup.com/bioscience/ar….1093/biosci/biad080
This entry was posted in News on Oct 25, 2023 by Francisco Martín León