The science is clear; our planet is facing a climate and ecological emergency.
On our current path, we are barreling towards 4°C of heating above pre-industrial levels. That amount of heating would make some parts of the world simply too hot for people and animals to live on.
Scientists have warned that at 4°C of heating “It’s difficult to see how we could accommodate eight billion people or even half of that. There will be a rich minority of people who survive with modern lifestyles, no doubt, but it will be a turbulent, conflict-ridden world.” By 2100 we would have been heading towards a population of around 11.2 billion.
In a 4°C world, rising seas have rendered coastlines unrecognisable and Florida has largely disappeared. Coral reefs have largely vanished, taking with them a quarter of the world’s fish habitats. Thousands of insect species have become extinct, causing massive crop failures due to lack of pollinators. Severe drought affects 40% of the planet. An area the size of Massachusetts burns in the US every year and Southern Spain and Portugal have become a desert, tipping millions into food and water insecurity.
This is a crisis of right now. The speed at which we respond in the next few years is critical to avoid climate tipping points that could lock in even higher temperatures. We need to reoganize our society at emergency speed to prevent further damage, much like we did during World War II.