Is the global climate crossing a red line?

An international coalition of scientists led by researchers at Oregon State University in the United States says that Earth’s vital signs are crossing a red line, or critical threshold, and that “humanity is unequivocally facing a climate emergency.”

The notice is made in a special report entitled “World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency 2022”, published in the academic journal BioScience.

The group is led by William Ripple and Christopher Wolf of Oregon State University.

The authors of this review of study results note that 16 of 35 planetary vital signs they use to track global climate change are at record extremes. The data shows, among other things, an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events, an increase in global tree cover loss due to fire, more violent weather and even a higher incidence of dengue virus transmitted by mosquitoes.

Additionally, Ripple and colleagues underscore the fact that the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide has reached 418 parts per million, the highest level recorded by mankind.

The report follows, five years later, what was titled “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice” published by Ripple and colleagues in BioScience and signed by more than 15,000 scientists from 184 countries.

There is growing evidence that global warming brings with it more violent storms. (Photo: NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL))

The new report notes that in the three decades since more than 1,700 scientists signed the first report in the series, titled “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity,” in 1992, Global greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 40%.

Everything points to the fact that as the Earth’s temperatures increase, the frequency or magnitude of some types of climatic disasters also increases, in the words of Thomas Newsome, of the University of Sydney in Australia, a co-author of the report, who also makes this call. “We urge our fellow scientists around the world to speak out on climate change.” (Font: NCYT by Amazings)