World to enter into ‘uncharted territory of destruction’, says climate report

Leading scientists have warned that the odds of the globe avoiding the worst effects of climate breakdown are quickly dwindling as we approach the "uncharted territory destruction" as a result of our inability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and take the necessary precautions. The most recent instance of extreme weather that is wreaking havoc around the world is the recent flooding in Pakistan, which the nation's climate minister stated covered a third of the country in water. This summer's heatwave in Europe, including the UK, China's protracted drought, the US' megadrought, and portions of Africa's near-famine conditions are all examples of how weather extremes are becoming more common. The secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, said: “There is nothing natural about the new scale of these disasters. They are the price of humanity’s fossil fuel addiction. This year’s United in Science report shows climate impacts heading into the ''uncharted territory of destruction.” According to the analysis, there is a 50/50 chance that global temperatures will rise by at least 1.5C over pre-industrial levels during the next five years. At the historic UN Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow last November, governments committed to focusing on keeping temperatures within the 1.5C limit, but the analysis found that their commitments and actions to reduce emissions fell short of what was required. Some governments have turned back to coal after Cop26 due to the invasion of Ukraine and rising gas prices. Guterres alerted people to the risk saying, “Each year we double down on this fossil fuel addiction, even as the symptoms get rapidly worse.” The report discovered that the world was also struggling to adjust to the effects of the climate crisis. Rich nations that vowed to help the poor world but didn't follow were criticized by Guterres. “It is a scandal that developed countries have failed to take adaptation seriously and shrugged off their commitments to help the developing world,” he said. Rich countries should provide $40bn (£34.5bn) a year at once to help countries adapt, he said, and increase that to $300bn a year by 2030.