Tackling climate change now can secure future

Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks.People and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit, according to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.The report, authored by more than 200 climate experts, reaffirms the key principles to tackle climate change: that local action is key in tackling climate change and that responding to disasters after they happen will never be enough to save lives and combat a crisis of this magnitude.“This report is a dire warning about the consequences of inaction,” said Hoesung Lee, chair of the IPCC.“It shows that climate change is a grave and mounting threat to our wellbeing and a healthy planet. Our actions today will shape how people adapt and nature responds to increasing climate risks.”Grave and mounting threatAccording to the report, the world faces unavoidable multiple climate hazards over the next two decades, with global warming of 1.5° C.“Even temporarily exceeding this warming level will result in additional severe impacts, some of which will be irreversible. Risks for society will increase, including to infrastructure and low-lying coastal settlement,” the report warns.Increased heatwaves, droughts and floods are already exceeding plants’ and animals’ tolerance thresholds, driving mass mortalities in species such as trees and corals. These weather extremes are occurring simultaneously, causing cascading impacts that are increasingly difficult to manage, it says.They have exposed millions of people to acute food and water insecurity, especially in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, on small islands and in the Arctic.Trouble for NamibiaTemperatures in Namibia are set to rise much more rapidly than the global average.For each 0.5° C increment in the global temperature, the mean temperature for Namibia will increase by 0.5 to 1° C more.As the global temperature increases by 1.5° C and more, climate models project that Namibia will experience increasing frequency and intensity of climate extremes.The report says to avoid mounting loss of life, biodiversity and infrastructure, ambitious, accelerated action is required to adapt to climate change, at the same time as making rapid, deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.So far, progress on adaptation is uneven and there are increasing gaps between action taken and what is needed to deal with the increasing risks, the new report found.

Tackling climate change now can secure future

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-02

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Tackling climate change now can secure future

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-02

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