UN Report: 'Nowhere to Run' from Global Warming
2021-08-10
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1The United Nations called a "code red for humanity" in a recently released report on climate change. A "code red" describes a serious emergency.
2The U.N. report said the Earth's atmosphere is getting so hot that temperatures in 10 years will probably pass a dangerous level.
3Linda Mearns is a climate scientist at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research and a co-writer of the report.
4She said, "It's just guaranteed that it's going to get worse. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide."
5But scientists also reduced their predictions of the worst climate disasters.
6The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group formed by the U.N., released the report which calls climate change human-caused.
7The IPCC makes more exact predictions for the next 80 years than it did the last time it released a report in 2013.
8The UN group predicts five possible situations that might take place in the future.
9They are based on how much carbon gas emissions are cut by nations around the world.
10Each one of the possible situations meets the warming levels set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
11In that agreement, many world leaders said they would try to limit the average warming of the Earth's atmosphere.
12The number was set at 1.5 degrees Celsius above the average temperature levels in the 1800s before industrialization spread around the world.
13The Paris climate agreement also talked about permitting a 2-degree rise in the Earth's average temperature.
14The report's scientists said the atmosphere has already warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius since then.
15Under each possible situation, the report said, the world will cross the 1.5-degree-Celsius mark in the 2030s.
16That is earlier than some past predictions.
17The report's scientists said warming has increased in recent years.
18Valerie Masson-Delmotte is the co-chair of the report.
19She also is a climate scientist at France's Laboratory of Climate and Environment Sciences at the University of Paris-Saclay.
20She said, "Our report shows that we need to be prepared for going into that level of warming in the coming decades.
21But we can avoid further levels of warming by acting on greenhouse gas emissions."
22In three of the five possible situations, worldwide average temperatures will warm by more than 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times.
23That is the higher temperature limit under the Paris climate agreement.
24The scientists predict reaching this level will cause severe heat waves, droughts and flooding rainstorms.
25The report warns this will happen unless nations sharply cut their carbon gas emissions.
26IPCC Vice Chair Ko Barrett is a climate adviser for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
27"This report tells us that recent changes in the climate are widespread, rapid and intensifying, unprecedented in thousands of years," he said.
28International climate negotiations are expected to take place in Scotland in November.
29U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the report "a stark reminder."
30The U.N. says 721 experts took part in the report which is nearly 4,000 pages long.
31It said the warming atmosphere is already causing many unusual and harmful weather events.
32All these events will get worse, the report said.
33In some places, warming is causing more than one problem at a time.
34Examples of places with such dangerous weather are the Western U.S., where heat waves, drought and wildfires increase the damage, Mearns said.
35Extreme heat is also causing fires in Greece and Turkey.
36Mason-Delmotte said improvement in understanding of how fast the world warms with each ton of carbon dioxide emitted enables scientists to be far more exact in their predictions of the future.
37Zeke Hausfather is a co-writer of the report and a climate scientist with the Breakthrough Institute, an environmental group in California.
38He said, the chances of "ending up in a much worse place than we expected if we do reduce our emissions are notably lower."
39Scientists said cutting levels of methane in the atmosphere could help reduce short-term warming.
40Methane is a biological carbon gas.
41Farm animals produce large amounts of the gas.
42Leaks of natural gas pipelines are also considered a problem.
43More than 100 countries have made unofficial promises to reach "net zero" human-caused carbon dioxide emissions sometime around 2050.
44Those promises will be a part of the negotiations in Scotland.
45The report said those promises are necessary.
46IPCC Vice Chair Barrett said it is still possible to avoid most of the worst possible results.
47I'm Jill Robbins.
1The United Nations called a "code red for humanity" in a recently released report on climate change. A "code red" describes a serious emergency. 2The U.N. report said the Earth's atmosphere is getting so hot that temperatures in 10 years will probably pass a dangerous level. 3Linda Mearns is a climate scientist at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research and a co-writer of the report. She said, "It's just guaranteed that it's going to get worse. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide." 4But scientists also reduced their predictions of the worst climate disasters. 5The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group formed by the U.N., released the report which calls climate change human-caused. The IPCC makes more exact predictions for the next 80 years than it did the last time it released a report in 2013. 6The UN group predicts five possible situations that might take place in the future. They are based on how much carbon gas emissions are cut by nations around the world. 7Each one of the possible situations meets the warming levels set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. 8In that agreement, many world leaders said they would try to limit the average warming of the Earth's atmosphere. The number was set at 1.5 degrees Celsius above the average temperature levels in the 1800s before industrialization spread around the world. The Paris climate agreement also talked about permitting a 2-degree rise in the Earth's average temperature. The report's scientists said the atmosphere has already warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius since then. 9Under each possible situation, the report said, the world will cross the 1.5-degree-Celsius mark in the 2030s. That is earlier than some past predictions. The report's scientists said warming has increased in recent years. 10Valerie Masson-Delmotte is the co-chair of the report. She also is a climate scientist at France's Laboratory of Climate and Environment Sciences at the University of Paris-Saclay. She said, "Our report shows that we need to be prepared for going into that level of warming in the coming decades. But we can avoid further levels of warming by acting on greenhouse gas emissions." 11In three of the five possible situations, worldwide average temperatures will warm by more than 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times. That is the higher temperature limit under the Paris climate agreement. The scientists predict reaching this level will cause severe heat waves, droughts and flooding rainstorms. The report warns this will happen unless nations sharply cut their carbon gas emissions. 12IPCC Vice Chair Ko Barrett is a climate adviser for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "This report tells us that recent changes in the climate are widespread, rapid and intensifying, unprecedented in thousands of years," he said. 13Worldwide meeting to come in Scotland 14International climate negotiations are expected to take place in Scotland in November. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the report "a stark reminder." 15The U.N. says 721 experts took part in the report which is nearly 4,000 pages long. It said the warming atmosphere is already causing many unusual and harmful weather events. All these events will get worse, the report said. In some places, warming is causing more than one problem at a time. 16Examples of places with such dangerous weather are the Western U.S., where heat waves, drought and wildfires increase the damage, Mearns said. Extreme heat is also causing fires in Greece and Turkey. 17Cutting methane is one way to reduce warming 18Mason-Delmotte said improvement in understanding of how fast the world warms with each ton of carbon dioxide emitted enables scientists to be far more exact in their predictions of the future. 19Zeke Hausfather is a co-writer of the report and a climate scientist with the Breakthrough Institute, an environmental group in California. He said, the chances of "ending up in a much worse place than we expected if we do reduce our emissions are notably lower." 20Scientists said cutting levels of methane in the atmosphere could help reduce short-term warming. Methane is a biological carbon gas. Farm animals produce large amounts of the gas. Leaks of natural gas pipelines are also considered a problem. 21Net-zero by 2050 22More than 100 countries have made unofficial promises to reach "net zero" human-caused carbon dioxide emissions sometime around 2050. Those promises will be a part of the negotiations in Scotland. The report said those promises are necessary. 23IPCC Vice Chair Barrett said it is still possible to avoid most of the worst possible results. 24I'm Jill Robbins. 25Additional information: For the first time, the report offers an interactive atlas for people to see what has happened and may happen to where they live. 26Seth Borenstein reported on this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 27__________________________________________________________________ 28Words in This Story 29emissions - n. something sent out or given off, such as the harmful substances released into the air by automobiles 30decade - n. a period of ten years 31greenhouse gas -n. a gas that is believed to cause warming temperatures in the Earth's atmosphere 32drought - n. a period without enough rain to support living things 33unprecedented -adj. not done or experienced before 34stark - adj. unpleasant and difficult to accept or experience 35What do you think of the U.N. report on climate change? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.