Global warming, what next?

Experts at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stressed the need for the world to embark on “rapid and unprecedented” transformations if it is to limit warming to one and a half degrees Celsius, warning of the increased risks if this level is exceeded.

In a 400-page report, a summary of which was published on Monday, the scientists presented to “political decision makers” the many effects that began to appear, especially the possibility of warming exceeding one and a half degrees Celsius, compared to the level of the pre-industrial era. Among these consequences, heat waves, the extinction of species and the melting of the polar ice cap, with the subsequent rise in the level of the oceans in the long term.

If the temperature continues to rise at the current pace due to emissions of greenhouse gases, the increase is expected to reach one and a half degrees Celsius between 2030 and 2052, according to the report, which is based on more than six thousand studies.

And if countries are satisfied with their pledges to reduce these emissions contained in the Paris Agreement concluded in 2015, the temperature will rise by three degrees by the end of this century.

In order to limit the warming to a degree and a half, the Climate Commission considered that carbon dioxide emissions should decrease by 45% by the year 2030 and that the world should reach “carbon neutralization”, that is, the quantities in the atmosphere do not exceed those that can be withdrawn from it.

The report called on all sectors to "significantly reduce emissions with a rapid and unprecedented turnaround".

The authority stressed that energy sources, especially coal, gas and oil, are responsible for three quarters of emissions.