UN Report: It’s Not Too Late to Stop Disastrous Climate Change

Time is running out to stop climate change . A new United Nations (UN) report, though, says we can still cut a lot of the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

In fact, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports detailed steps that could sharply reduce emissions. Among them: protect forests, change farming methods, and eat less meat. Forests suck carbon-dioxide from the air. Farming can be changed to cut emissions. Raising animals also makes a lot of methane. That is a type of greenhouse gas.

The report also noted that costs of solar and wind power, and electric car batteries, dropped 85% between 2010 and 2019. That's helped industrialized nations, including the US, cut emissions. They haven’t fallen nearly enough, though, according to the report. 

“We are at a crossroads; the decisions we make now can secure a livable future,” said the IPCC chairman. 

But the report warned global greenhouse emissions would have to be reduced 43% by 2030 and 84% by 2050 to reach climate targets. That would prevent the worst effects of climate change. Emissions, though, have fallen just a few percentage points over the past 10 years.

Barring major reductions in emissions, the report said, the world won’t come close to meeting those targets.

“We are on a fast track to climate disaster,” the head of the UN warned. “Major cities under water. Unprecedented heat waves. Terrifying storms. Widespread water shortages. The extinction of a million species of plants and animals.”

The report warned against doomsaying though. That's the feeling that we can’t stop climate change, so why bother trying? 

Photo from Reuters.