Phase 3 Submission Group CD

CLIM1001

Phase 3 Submission Group CD

Group CD Members:

Kaan Temur z5492116

Yanqing Wang z5279751

Jie Zhou z5461843

Siam Rafiq z5362493

REVISED ARTICLE SUMMARY

Article Summarisation Seven Top Takeaways from IPCC's latest climate science assessment

Article Link:

https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/seven-top-takeaways-from-the-ipcc-s-latest-climate-science-assessment-20210809-p58h16.htmlIntroduction

With globalisation and digitalisation, there are many different factors that have affected the climate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) publishes regular reports on these factors and trends in climate change, with the aim of helping governments understand climate change. Peter Hannam, the reporter of Sydney Morning Herald, summarisessummarizes seven key points on the IPCCs latest report and makes some comments in the article.

Summary

Based on the previous reports, the following changes have been made. Firstly, the earth's mean temperature has become much warmer, both compared to the AR5 and the baseline temperatures of 1850-1900. Secondly, regional forecasts and attribution research also get improved. Based on improved resolution of climate models, the zones of Australia are carrying out alterations in their climate measures (Mechler et al., 2020). Despite this, the report's view of Australia's future climate change remains bleak. The likelihood, frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as fires are expected to continue to increase. The report shows the dramatic changes of climate and environment to increase the awareness of public and policymakers about ongoing environmental changes. These changes include a surge in carbon dioxide emissions due to the burning of fossil fuels and land reclamation (Robinson, 2020), and the rise of sea level, which is caused by heavier rainfall (Shukla et al., 2019). This is portrayed through the use of graphical data to paint a clear image of the dire consequences of climate change.Figure 1: Projections at 1.5, 2 and 4 degrees celsius global warming. Source:IPCCMoreover, AR6 will guide governments to continue to pursue the goal of keeping warming "between 1.5 degrees and well below 2 degrees" at the Glasgow summit to be held in November. However, takingtake the lowest scenario wont get us to net-zero emissions in 2050. Therefore, this requires the adoption of more stringent emission reduction policies.

Critique

It is important to be able to take away the positives, negatives and areas to improve on from the article. In terms of positives, the AR6 determines from attribution theory that humans are responsible for climate change. Humans have emitted one trillion tons of carbon dioxide since 1990, which accounts for 41% of all estimated emissions since 1750. Meanwhile, global temperatures have been changing in one direction since the 1970s. The content of AR6 points out that the biosphere will not behave as it did during our carbon-plus experiments of past centuries, and that the land and oceans cannot continue to bear the excess emissions. Hannam emphasises the sheer consequences of remaining ignorant to the issues concerning the climate when he states I dont want my future based on the toss of a coin. Who flies with a 50% risk of crashing?. The author cleverly connects to readers to create urgency regarding the matter of climate change, by providing first hand information that everyone can relate to. Therefore, thisThis report is informing informs and inspiring the government and the public to take action.

While the report provides solid evidence and projections of emissions and its harmful effects on the environment, it would have been more impactful to briefly provide some examples of preventative measures that can be taken rather than simply expressing that changes must be made. Hannam could have stated examples why it is important to set up movement buildings and to grant national policy. For example, Wwhile dealing with climate change, this could be done by highlighting the need toone needs to achieve effective action and protect the local communities and indigenous people. Such communities can act as detectors of the world by dealing with Land Management. This will lead to lower deforestation rates, and the governments can protect certain areas. Indigenous people can support land by over 80% and effectively deal with biodiversity and foresting. Giving examples such as this, emphasisesemphasizes the need for people individuals to act quickly and provides a way how they can make a change as a collective rather than focusing on singular efforts, which is a key to tackling climate change (UNFCCC, 2022). In addition to urgingto, urging the government to take action by creatingbyto creatinge plans that focus on a collective effort amongst people,it is also important to estimate the pulling over of carbon dioxide rates from the atmosphere. and to estimate the pulling over of carbon dioxide rates from the atmosphere is also necessary. It They should be able to make procedures for reducing fossil fuel usage and invest more in renewable sources of energy (Borie et al. 2021). Hannam mentions that the remaining carbon budget is quickly diminishing, however does not suggest proactive measures that can be taken to alternate to replenishable sources. Providing examples of current initiatives that are being taken such as the electric vehicle rollout, and projecting potential plans gives readers an idea on how they can contribute and the major impact they would be having in terms of mitigating climate change. This would be further solidified by using supporting points such as the total life cycle emissions of electric vehicles are reduced up to 89% compared to combustion engines (Buberger et al., 2022). In this wayThus, the report can provide people of all backgrounds to be held accountable when thinking about the negative impacts to the environment, and a direct course of action through examples as a preventative measure.

Conclusion

The national governments must understand the scope of commitment to reach net zero emissions. This is a direct way to switch to clean energy sources. Understanding how the climate can be protected and how the planet can be improved is important, which is clearly emphasisedemphasized by Hannam's report. It is based upon human beings and the activities that can support the entire procedure. Several bodies have come up with ideas and extravagant strategies to ensure that an ample amount of knowledge and awareness is provided to individuals to ensure they can deal with the problems effectively. However, over time, with the advent of digitization and modernization, several industries are budding up. This can be a threat in the future, for which individuals need to learn about climate change and its harmful effects on the environment, precisely the point Hannam is trying to portray with his report.

References

Mechler, R., Singh, C., Ebi, K., Djalante, R., Thomas, A., James, R., Tschakert, P., Wewerinke-Singh, M., Schinko, T., Ley, D. and Nalau, J., 2020. Loss and Damage and limits to adaptation: recent IPCC insights and implications for climate science and policy. Sustainability Science, 15, pp.1245-1251.

Robinson, S.A., 2020. Climate change adaptation in SIDS: A systematic review of the literature pre and post the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 11(4), p.e653.

Shukla, P.R., Skea, J., Calvo Buendia, E., Masson-Delmotte, V., Prtner, H.O., Roberts, D.C., Zhai, P., Slade, R., Connors, S., Van Diemen, R. and Ferrat, M., 2019. IPCC, 2019: Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems.

UNFCCC, 2022. How Indigenous people enrich climate action. Date Accessed: 7/11/23

Link:unfccc.int/news/how-indigenous-people-enrich-climate-action

Buberger, J. et al. (2022) Total CO2-equivalent life-cycle emissions from commercially available passenger cars, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 159, p. 112158. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2022.112158.

Borie, M., Mahony, M., Obermeister, N. and Hulme, M., 2021. Knowing like a global expert organisationorganization: Comparative insights from the IPCC and IPBES. Global Environmental Change, 68, p.102261.