What if global warming is no longer a distant hypothetical, but an imminent reality? Climate change is a phenomenon of immense scope, with implications for individuals, communities, and entire nations. Every nation, company, and citizen must be engaged if meaningful progress is to be achieved in combating this crisis before it is too late. To imagine what could befall the world if global warming goes unchecked, one need only consider the harrowing projections revealed by state-of-the-art climate models and the raw data from ground and satellite observations.
If global warming continues the way it is today, then the earth’s temperature will rise at least by 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century. Such an increase in temperatures would lead to devastating and even potentially irreversible changes in the global climate. Increased ocean levels, shifting weather patterns and resulting storms and landslides, and droughts caused by an extended lack of precipitation are just a few of the possibilities. Furthermore, biodiversity, species extinction, and the associated destruction of natural habitats, the increased prevalence of infectious diseases and the death toll associated with them, the further implications of unsustainable agricultural practices, and broad-reaching economic and political hardships — all could be felt as a result of global warming.
The consequences of global warming will, in large part, be determined by the path nations choose to take in the very near future. According to the Paris Agreement, countries all around the globe have agreed to reduce greenhouse gases in order to prevent global temperatures from exceeding the 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7 F degrees), and ideally to reach a future below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Despite great strides made by some countries in transitioning to renewable energy sources and sustainable agricultural practices such as carbon farming, far greater effort on a global scale is needed — particularly from the world’s leading industrial emitters. Massive investment in renewable energy and demand management, in addition to the implementation of effective polluter-pay measures, will be essential for any meaningful progress to be made in reducing emissions and combating global warming.
In this and many other ways, the stakes for global warming are sky-high and skyrocketing; and yet, the world saddles with a frustratingly inadequate response from leaders to ensure meaningful progress and action. To break this pattern, citizens must take the issue into their own hands. This may start with individual action, such as reducing plastic waste and compromising less on energy use. But the more impactful actions will be collective, such as advocating for progressive climate policies in governments and business. In short, our collective future depends on proactive and collaborative efforts on the part of all stakeholders.
It is time for all to recognize that inaction in the face of global warming is no option. We must take steps to understand the impact of our actions on the environment and the planet, and actively work together to develop and implement effective strategies to reverse the ongoing damage wrought by global warming – before it is too late.
