Climate crisis reducing land's ability to sustain humanity, says IPCC
Source: The Guardian
The climate crisis is damaging the ability of the land to sustain humanity, with cascading risks becoming increasingly severe as global temperatures rise, according to a landmark UN report compiled by some of the world’s top scientists.
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The report, approved by the world’s governments, makes clear that humanity faces a stark choice between a vicious or virtuous circle. Continued destruction of forests and huge emissions from cattle and other intensive farming practices will intensify the climate crisis, making the impacts on land still worse.
However, action now to allow soils and forests to regenerate and store carbon, and to cut meat consumption by people and food waste, could play a big role in tackling the climate crisis, the report says.
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One of the most stark conclusions in the IPCC report is that soil, upon which humanity is entirely dependent, is being lost more than 100 times faster than it is being formed in ploughed areas; and lost 10 to 20 times faster even on fields that are not tilled.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/08/climate-crisis-reducing-lands-ability-to-sustain-humanity-says-ipcc
around 13% of CO2, 44% of methane (CH4), and 82% of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from
human activities globally during 2007-2016, representing 23% (12.0 +/- 3.0 GtCO2e yr-1) of
total net anthropogenic emissions of GHGs21 (medium confidence). The natural response of
land to human-induced environmental change caused a net sink of around 11.2 GtCO2 yr-1
during 2007-2016 (equivalent to 29% of total CO2 emissions) (medium confidence); the
persistence of the sink is uncertain due to climate change (high confidence). If emissions
associated with pre- and post-production activities in the global food system22 are included,
the emissions are estimated to be 21-37% of total net anthropogenic GHG emissions (medium
confidence). {2.3, Table 2.2, 5.4}
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B 6. Response options throughout the food system, from production to
consumption, including food loss and waste, can be deployed and scaled up to advance
adaptation and mitigation (high confidence). The total technical mitigation potential from
crop and livestock activities, and agroforestry is estimated as 2.3-9.6 GtCO2e.yr-1 by 2050
(medium confidence). The total technical mitigation potential of dietary changes is estimated
as 0.7-8 GtCO2e.yr-1 by 2050 (medium confidence). {5.3, 5.5, 5.6}
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D 3. Rapid reductions in anthropogenic GHG emissions across all sectors following
ambitious mitigation pathways reduce negative impacts of climate change on land
ecosystems and food systems (medium confidence). Delaying climate mitigation and
adaptation responses across sectors would lead to increasingly negative impacts on land and
reduce the prospect of sustainable development (medium confidence).
https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2019/08/4.-SPM_Approved_Microsite_FINAL.pdf
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