Next year (2015) will probably be warmer than the average over the last 50 years, climate experts predict. They also suggest that our planet’s future climate will become increasingly dependent on how much our leaders can or cannot achieve in terms of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Scientists warn that the poorest nations, as well as areas near coastlines will bear the brunt of leaders’ inactivity, i.e. the less we do to control greenhouse gas emissions, the more coastline areas and poorer nations will suffer.
If serious measures are not taken to curb climate change, the Marshal Islands in the South Pacific may become completely submerged by seawater.
Kiribati, an island nation in the central Pacific Ocean, has already made preparations for a total evacuation of all its citizens due to rising sea levels caused by climate change.
While 2014 has been the hottest year on record, climate experts say 2015 will be another record-breaking year.
They blame leaders of several nations for not making significant pledges to reduce carbon emissions. This lack of political commitment could be stoking a catastrophe for the entire planet, they warn.
If 2015 is another record-breaking warm year, the impact on agriculture will be significant, scientists warn. Not only will our long-term food supply become a growing problem, but so will the price of food.
More severe weather events
The incidence of extreme climate and weather events such as intense downpours, severe storm surges and record high temperatures is increasing across the planet, according to Noah Diffenbaugh, who is a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.
As most reliable weather records only date back about 100 years, the majority of scientists have been reluctant to say for certain that global warming is driving extreme events.
Diffenbaugh said:
“The media are often focused on whether global warming caused a particular event. The more useful question for real-world decisions is: ‘Is the probability of a particular event statistically different now compared with a climate without human influence?’”
The United Nations wrote on the Climate Change section of its website:
“Climate change is not a far-off problem. It is happening now and is having very real consequences on people’s lives. Climate change is disrupting national economies, costing us dearly today and even more tomorrow. But there is a growing recognition that affordable, scalable solutions are available now that will enable us all to leapfrog to cleaner, more resilient economies.”
Video – Addressing global warming