The problem of climate change is not new. Scientists were warning national governments across the world about the possible problems people will have to deal with in the future. The effects of this problem will affect everything and everything. The sooner the action is taken, the better chances of improvement we have.
Some changes, such as hurricanes, droughts, and wildfires, happen to come faster than scientists thought. Their frequency will be constantly growing. Their intensity will also reach the top. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), people will have to adjust their life to upcoming changes. They will also have to be ready for inconveniences any minute. Their life will always involve a certain level of danger.
The good news is that scientists demonstrate their confidence that global temperatures will be rising for many decades. Let’s see some of the most obvious problems to occur.
Climate Changes
Global warming likely to continue
Greenhouse gas emissions keep increasing and becoming more intensive. After staying in the atmosphere for too long, they contribute to the warming trend badly. They also have a negative impact on rainfall patterns as well as the frequency of extreme weather events such as storms, typhoons, and cyclones.
In the most aggressive scenario possible, the global average temperature is expected to warm at least twice within the next century. Ground-level air temperature is expected to continue a growing trend by warming more rapidly over land than oceans. Considering the current situation with the atmosphere, this scenario doesn’t seem to be unrealistic at all.
Greenhouse gas concentrations will affect the future climate
The future climate on our planet depends on whether the world’s population succeeds in reducing the number of greenhouse gas emissions. The latter ones have a long lifetime in the atmosphere. Even a reduction in emissions won’t fix the problem immediately. The damage caused has already become huge. But it doesn’t mean that greenhouse gas-reduction initiatives don’t make a point.
To understand how the climate may change in the future, scientists have developed different scenarios based on mathematical and ecological data. Future demographic change, economic development, and technological advances also need to be taken into consideration. Based on the emission ranges, the concentration paths need to be continued up to about 2030.
Future global warming
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted a global warming increase between 0.3 and 4.8 °C by 2100. The trends will depend on the emission scenario, which depends on people only.
The planet can warm up by 0.3 °C – 1.7 °C if emissions of greenhouse gases will be reduced or, at least, kept at the same level. It can warm up by 2.6 °C – 4.8 °C if no action is taken by world society. In one scenario on another, at least, a minimum growth will still take place. The number of greenhouse gas emissions has already made up sufficient bases for climate change.
Today, we are moving toward a medium to high emissions scenario, where the planet warms up by 1.4 – 3.1 °C. The further trends depend on our actions. Will it get worse or stay the same?!
Global Initiatives in Addressing Climate Change
In order to keep the negative impact of a heating world under control, the world should join hands with a raft of global initiatives to reach the target. The Business Climate Summit aims to find a series of reasonable solutions to limit the rise of global temperature. There are many more events devoted to the problem and its possible solutions.
The limits set by governments make businesses take responsibility for their actions, especially if they cause direct harm to the surrounding world. In 2020, a group of 30 global asset managers started the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative trying to minimize their own operational carbon emissions. They also ensured their investment plans involve no carbon emissions by 2050.
By the way, the Task Force on Climate-rRlated Financial Disclosures (TCFD) was established in 2018 to motivate asset managers to get more investee companies involved and provide climate disclosure based on the TCFD concept. The positive thing about it is that such companies can help support the smoother transformation to a lower carbon future. More collaborative efforts are required across the world to reduce total emissions and enable a proper transition toward net zero.