The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2021 report was published this week. The report has highlighted the devastating impacts of climate change and how these impacts will worsen unless we act now. Some of the main points in the report are:
- Key knowledge about changing climate has been strengthened
- Humans are indisputibly responsible for these changes
- No corner of the earth is unaffected by climate change
- Some aspects of the climate system will continue to change for thousands of years
- We won’t be able to limit warming to 1.5 degrees without immediate global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions
- Strong, rapid and sustained reductions in carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases are necessary to limit global warming
Below is a video from the RTÉ news, which portarys the reaction in Ireland to the IPCC report. It is clear that there is urgent need for change, to try and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees in the coming decades.
“Strong, rapid and sustained reductions in methane emissions”
RTÉ news, August 9, 2021
I feel that in order for us to reduce methane emissions from agriculture, there is need for increased and more efficient measuring of emissions such as methane. As stated in the video above, farmers are willing to tackle the challenge facing them with regards to reducing emissions such as methane. The climate action plan which is soon set to be published must financially support those who are willing to adapt.
My MScCCAFS thesis entitled “Measurement of emissions from ruminant livestock: State of the Art & Future” ties nicely into this topic. I have been looking at, both current and future techniques which can be used for measuring emissions from ruminants. I have found that there is a need for greater research into the topic and a need for greater development of emission measurement strategies. I feel that the measuring of emissions from livestock will underpin the success or failure of emission mitigation strategies from agriculture in future.
References:
IPCC, 2021: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth
Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.
L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M. I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J. B.
R. Matthews, T. K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In
Press.
Peter Thorne. (2021). 6 key takeaways from the new climate change report. Available: https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2021/0809/1239772-ipcc-report-2021-key-takeaways/. Last accessed 10th August 2021.