The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its sixth assessment report (AR6) this week, the most current since the release of AR5 in 2013 and 2014. The results of the report spread rapidly across digital platforms and the focal point is the forecast for Earth to surpass the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold between 2030 and 2035 determined by using climate models, historical records, and emission scenarios. Even low emission scenarios in the report project the globe to surpass the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming by the mid 21st century, possibly decreasing by the end of the century pending negative emission technology.
Though the report focused on and disclosed a lot of important information about alterations, like sea-level rise that is essentially irreversible, at least for a long time, which is a concerning thought, the report did outline changes that are still possible to make to limit climate change. If carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are decreased there is a possibility to improve air quality and stabilize air temperatures in two to three decades. However, these changes would need to be made quickly.
Many of the rapid changes that are being observed and recorded by scientists are human-induced. The IPCC report contains volunteered contributions from thousands of individuals and scientists to culminate into a statement that decisively delivers information on climate change, its impacts, its future dangers, and mitigation and adaptation methods to diminish them.
This report is labeled as a ‘Code Red’ for the globe. This newly released information is sure to have an impact on the field of public health. As COVID-19 originated because humans have greater contact with wildlife due to expansion, deforestation, and habitat fragmentation, the projections of worsening climate change should bring more attention and worry to this field as well. This is a disturbing report, and emphasizes the importance of my project’s creating a boundary for a ‘safe space’ for zoonosis.
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