BELMOPAN, Belize--The highly anticipated 1.5 degrees report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been released, and the news is dire. But while scientists “sound the alarm about complacency,” they’ve given hope that it is still possible to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (C).
The report clearly outlines the risks of exceeding 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels; this is the upper limit of warming that small islands states have advocated for, for many years.
“This report is a wake-up call for governments and the world, that we no longer have time for playing around. It is time for hard work to avert climate change and the small island states need significant financial help to make it happen,” said Science Advisor and deputy executive director at the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), Dr. Ulric Trotz.
In the Special Report on Global Warming at 1.5 degrees C released last week, the IPCC warned that the global leaders need to quickly cut carbon emissions over the next decade. The landmark report by the world’s top scientists studying climate change noted that to avoid going past 1.5 degrees C more than preindustrial levels, the world needs to adopt “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.”
“From the small island perspective, this is probably the most important report the IPCC has done, not only because it was in part called for by Small Island Developing States (SIDS) but also because every important message we have been requesting over the years is now backed up by scientific assessment in this report,” said Dr. Michael Taylor, one of the Caribbean’s leading climate scientists and a contributor to the report.
Dr. Taylor noted that the Caribbean science underpins the assessments and supports the urgency of the messages that highlight not only the expected impacts on the region at 1.5 degrees, but also “the enormous risks of 2 degrees, to the synergies with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to adaptation needs, deficits and costs, to the necessity for more mitigation.”
The report outlines the considerable risks now being faced by SIDS due to the escalating impacts of extreme events, from sea-level rise to slowed economic growth, biodiversity loss and significant global risks, should global warming exceed 1.5 degrees C.
For SIDS, the difference between warming at 1.5 and 2 degrees C is critical, resulting in increased water stress, more intense rainfall during tropical cyclones, and increased exposure to irreversible sea-level rise. Some coral reefs would be able to adapt at 1.5 degrees C; at 2 degrees C their chances of survival are next to none, irrecoverably damaging the fisheries and livelihoods that depend on them.
In the Caribbean, the changes are already happening. The region is experiencing hotter days and nights, more intense rainfall as well as more and longer periods of drought, putting lives, livelihoods and economies at risk.
Significant data from the Caribbean and SIDS have featured prominently in this IPCC report which provides a clear picture of the level of devastation that would occur at 2 degrees. The inclusion of regional data sets has been hailed a success by the CCCCC.
“We set out to have the Caribbean situation reflected in the report and we have accomplished that,” Trotz said.
The Centre has been working with regional and international organisations to pull together institutions such as Cuba’s Institute of Meteorology, the Caribbean’s own Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), the Universities of the West Indies and Suriname and others to coordinate the production of Caribbean-specific models and information which provided critical information to the special report. ~ Caribbean360 ~
