One of the next five years may be witness to global average temperatures of 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels (defined as the average of global temperatures between 1850-1900), according to a recent World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report. There is a 20 per cent possibility of the event. 

Countries under 2015 Paris Agreement had agreed to try and limit the average global temperature rise to below 2°C by the end of the century.The last five years have already been the warmest ever recorded, according to WMO.

Between 2020 and 2024, all regions of the world, except the southern oceans, are likely to be warmer.The period will also witness an increase in the number of storms in the European region.

In 2020 alone, the temperatures over large land areas in the northern hemisphere may be 0.8°C more than the recent past. The Arctic region in specific might warm up at more than twice the rate as compared to global average.

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PARIS AGREEMENT

The Paris Agreement  is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions, mitigation and adaptation. The Paris agreement was signed in 2015 by 195 countries.The Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016.

1. It sets a global goal of keeping global average temperatures from rising 2°C (compared to temperatures of pre-Industrial Revolution) by the end of the century.
2. It sets a nonbinding agreement for countries to reach peak greenhouse gas emissions “as soon as possible.”
3. It asks richer countries to help out poorer countries: to give them capital to invest in green technologies, but also to help them brace for a changing world.
4. The Paris Agreement requires all Parties to put forward their best efforts through “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead.

Adaptation

Governments agreed to strengthen societies’ ability to deal with the impacts of climate change;  provide continued and enhanced international support for adaptation to developing countries.

Loss and damage

The agreement also recognises the importance of averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change.

FACTS AND FIGURES

                                                          UNFCCC

The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. Today, it has near-universal membership. The 197 countries that have ratified the Convention are called Parties to the Convention.

The UNFCCC is a “Rio Convention”, one of three adopted at the “Rio Earth Summit” in 1992. Preventing “dangerous” human interference with the climate system is the ultimate aim of the UNFCCC. The ultimate objective of the Convention is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations “at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human induced) interference with the climate system.”

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which commits its Parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets.Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities.”

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005.

ANTROPOGENIC CLIMATE CHANGE is change caused by human activity.

GLOBAL WARMING: It is the rise in global t emperature all over the world because of green house gases(such as carbon dioxide, methane, water vapour) that are trapping more heat in the Earth’s atmosphere.

It is believed that if greenhouses gases continue to be emitted by burning fossil fuels at the current rate, global warming will alarmingly rise 2 degree Celsius above preindustrial levels. That is feared to change the climate to a point of no return and will impact all aspects of human civilization: food, water, health, energy, economy and national security.