Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas continue to rise. They are expected to reach a peak of 36.8 billion tons per year in 2023, as experts write in the report on the global carbon budget. That is 1.1 percent more than in 2022 and 1.4 percent more than in the pre-Corona year 2019.
“The impacts of climate change are clearly visible all around us, but action to reduce CO2 emissions from fossil fuels remains painfully slow,” said study leader Pierre Friedlingstein of the University of Exeter, UK, according to a statement.
More than 120 experts were involved in the report, which was published on Tuesday in the journal ‘Earth System Science Data’.
Consequences of climate change are already “severe”
The share of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air will average 419.3 ppm (parts per million) in 2023, which is 51 percent higher than in 1750. “It seems inevitable that we will exceed the 5 degrees target. ” – and recent years have dramatically shown us how serious the consequences of climate change already are,” said Julia Pongratz of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, one of the lead authors of the report.
Every tenth degree of warming has fatal consequences
Yet every tenth of a degree counts in the fight against the climate crisis. Global warming is already having noticeable consequences for the environment and society. Rising sea levels, more extreme weather events, loss of ecosystems and biodiversity, and health problems are just some of the consequences.
Every tenth degree of global warming increases these impacts and makes them more difficult to manage. For example, a warming of 2.5 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era will lead to a global sea level rise of up to one meter. This would lead to widespread flooding in coastal areas.
Politics is necessary
Politics is particularly important when it comes to the problem: to limit the rise in global temperatures to some extent, it is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions quickly and significantly. This is possible by switching to renewable energy sources to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
This requires improving energy efficiency to reduce energy consumption, as well as measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, industry and transport.
Source: Krone
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