The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report warns against the need to reevaluate current energy policies. // Photo courtesy of Tobias Rademacher.
The United Nations’ (U.N.) Climate Change 2022 report was released on Monday, April 4. The report was compiled by researchers and members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the U.N.’s organization dedicated to advancing climate change knowledge. In the report, researchers stress the urgency of employing actions to save the future of Earth.
“This is not fiction or exaggeration,” warned António Guterres, U.N. chief, through a video message in response to the latest findings of the IPCC forecast. “It is what science tells us will result from our current energy policies. We are on a pathway to global warming of more than double the 1.5 degree Celsius (or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) limit.”
The limit of 1.5 was imposed in the Paris Climate Change Agreement in 2016. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the agreement aims to substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit the global temperature increase in this century to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels while pursuing the means to reduce the increase to 1.5 degrees. 196 countries have joined this agreement.
However, in 2020, the United States was the first country to withdraw from the accords under former President Donald Trump’s legislation, dismantling decades of U.S. environmental policy. In January 2021, President Joe Biden’s day one executive order was for the United States to officially rejoin the landmark Paris Agreement on February 19, 2021, positioning the country to be part of the global climate solution once again. Yet, researchers claim that the U.S. has fallen behind in the four years it was absent from the agreement.
In light of the new U.N. reports, this appears to be significant in terms of environmental policy changes for the U.S., yet some students feel that the media has not responded as such.
“It should be talked about more, because it is an urgent issue,” said Carlos Rosales, a freshman biology major. “I discussed climate change in my BIO 112 class last year, but I haven’t heard about it recently. I really only see political things. I think politics are more prioritized than the environment.”
Krisha Vania, a sophomore mass media studies major, said that she knew about the U.N. reports but still needed to do her own research to gain a better understanding of the climate change issue.
“I had to do research for a class about the U.N., and that’s when I found out about everything,” Vania said. “I definitely think corporations can do a lot to help, because they have power and voice, but individuals can take charge and not leave it entirely up to corporations.”
Individuals have begun to take action as 25 scientists glued their hands to the U.K.’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) building on Friday, April 8, at 11 am in Westminster, London, in response to an announcement that the U.K. would continue to exploit North Sea oil and gas. Following the U.N. report, the U.K.’s government announced its plan to increase oil and gas drilling due to the surge in gas prices. According to an article by The Guardian, the government will present North Sea oil and gas as lower carbon than imported gas, according to a Whitehall source, to meet the U.K.’s needs while ramping up renewables and nuclear power.
Dr. Aaron Thierry, a 36-year-old ecologist who had his hand glued to the window of BEIS in protest, said, “I really wish I was not here, but also, I’m really glad that I’m here with all these scientists who know what’s right.”
Scientists are urging the government to end their “addiction to fossil fuels” and take advantage of their wind power in existing coastal offshore wind farms.
This is not just a U.K. issue, and the U.S. is not far behind. “The U.S. is in a similar position, and the economic realities make it much more challenging,” said Dr. Jase Bernhardt, assistant professor of geology, environment and sustainability. “If we had started reducing fossil fuels 15 to 20 years ago, it wouldn’t be an urgent issue. But since we didn’t, now [we] have to take immediate action.”
Bernhardt explained that individuals could help by reducing their carbon footprint. “In my GEOL 115 class, we discussed reducing your carbon footprint in your daily activities. The majority of students had a big carbon footprint because of transportation,” Bernhardt said. He explained that using mass transit can be an individual choice to reduce emissions. As well as home energy choices, small things such as turning off the lights, keeping the air conditioner lower when it’s winter can help cut down costs on electricity, making it mutually beneficial.
Bernhardt also noted that there are economic factors to consider when being sustainable. Although sustainability may not be easily attainable for everyone, “Policymakers should be offering smaller and feasible solutions, such as a carbon tax, which won’t make [a] change as quickly as people want, but it would help,” Bernhardt said. “There’s no time range on it. It’s all our best guess as to when, the ‘tipping point’ [will be reached] as the heat and energy increase.”