Understanding the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report
In the last issue, I hit you up with The Shot & A Chaser of news round-up. Today? I have no chaser. This is a shot, and it isn’t fun.
This morning The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the next part of its latest report on climate change and the impact on our planet. As anyone who has paid attention to the ongoing climate crisis, this reports findings are not surprising — yet, they are extremely alarming.
We are running out of time as a planet to make meaningful change.
If you don’t know what the IPCC is:
The IPCC was created to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments on climate change, its implications and potential future risks, as well as to put forward adaptation and mitigation options.
Created by the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988, the IPCC has 195 Member countries.
I need to preface this before I get into anything — I have not read the entire report. The entire report is 3765 pages. It is extensive. The only people who read the entire report are probably the people who wrote it. Thankfully there have been many journalists who are already summarized the major components to the report. I read the press release, articles summarizing it, and Twitter threads from experts.
If you want to view the report and engage with the individual sections, delve into the details, etc. you can use this button to view it. The IPCC does an excellent job of providing lots of ways to understand what is at stake.
This thread on Twitter is useful to understand how to approach this vast report.
To breakdown the report, or give you places to learn more about it, I’ve compiled some of those below.
To avoid mounting loss of life, biodiversity and infrastructure, ambitious, accelerated action is required to adapt to climate change, at the same time as making rapid, deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. So far, progress on adaptation is uneven and there are increasing gaps between action taken and what is needed to deal with the increasing risks, the new report finds. These gaps are largest among lower-income populations.
Climate change is causing greater impacts than expected at lower temperatures than anticipated, disrupting natural systems and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, according to the latest report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
This new report looks at the causes, impacts and solutions to climate change. It gives the clearest indication to date of how a warmer world is affecting all the living things on Earth.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine overshadowed the release of the report and drove the sole Ukrainian author to leave the proceedings to take shelter, although a government representative did attend its final approval by nearly 200 nations. read more
British, Spanish and Egyptian officials said the report was a call to action. U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry lamented that too little has been done to adapt to climate change and said the report offered a “blueprint for action”.
Ok, so what can an individual do amidst all these problems?
This is really an important aspect of this problem. We have to vote and support those in positions of power to make this a priority. This report is written and intended to provide the evidence to push leaders around the world to make meaningful change.
And in democratic countries like the US, it is our responsibility to vote for candidates who care about climate change and will take action.
We need to continually press those already in power to take action. Be vocal about your concerns! Talk to your friends and family about it.
We can also do more. The Nature Conservancy offered some great ideas about what else we can do.
Learn how to talk about climate change: We can all help by engaging and educating others. Our guide will help you feel comfortable raising these topics at the dinner table with your friends and family. Download our guide to talk about climate change.
We live in turbulent times, where we are inundated by news, and it can feel overwhelming. Today, take a breath, learn a bit more about why this report is important, and take action.
Need a laugh and some help figuring out what action to take? Install UnF*** the Future in your Chrome browser and let it help you with ideas.
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