Climate 'doom loop' awaits world for failing to act: Experts
As the world is descending into a climate change nightmare, experts are stressing the need to adopt "extreme approaches", such as geoengineering.
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Smoke rises above a factory at sunset in Rugby, Britain, on February 10, 2021. (Reuters)
Human activity is causing global temperatures to rise, and climate change now endangers every facet of human existence. Human-induced climate change is the most pervasive threat to the environment and societies in the world. A thinktank report highlighted the consequences of a climate "doom loop" as they invite decision-makers to make efforts to prevent its escalation.
Coping with climate change impacts is not enough. The world is supposed to supply resources to significantly drop carbon emissions to control the situation.
Global heating is a cascading problem that hit the world so hard that recovering from it is already costing billions of dollars.
Human activity is causing global temperatures to rise, and #ClimateChange now endangers every facet of human existence.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) January 3, 2023
Is it too late to act on this environmental threat? #ClimateCrisis pic.twitter.com/9DfRNZH4ts
Can we tamper with the global temperature?: IPPR & Chatham House
Researchers from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and Chatham House are investigating the impact of climate change, debating over whether it was still possible to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5°C, which is the international goal.
The researchers split up between those who argued that the current slow pace of action was sufficient and those who believed otherwise, highlighting the significance of adopting "extreme approaches", such as geoengineering.
Politicians are to pay more attention to the dangerous situation and show honest concern toward its great risks. They are responsible to enact laws while imposing harsh sentences on those who do not implement them fully and accurately.
Associate fellow at IPPR, Laurie Laybourn, announced that the world has entered a new chapter in the climate and ecological crisis as real consequences are looming in on us forcing us to take difficult decisions. The award-winning researcher believes in their ability to create a more sustainable world stressing that they would have to stay focused on the goal while navigating through the current consequences being faced.
The report draws focus on the fact that the longer the [climate] issue is ignored, the more resources will be consumed. It refers to the African community which has recorded worsening effects of global heating, emphasizing the need for support from developed countries that emit the most carbon dioxide.
Read more: African climate crisis should be 'supreme concern' to world: Report
The difficulty to resort to greener solutions has been often highlighted by Laybourn. Reevaluating local authority budgets and taxes to implement change, such as switching to electric vehicles and to better public transportation, is time-consuming and not that simple.
Read more: Russia: Committed to depoliticizing fight against climate change
Bob Ward, of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics, said, “Our main aim should still be radical emissions cuts to try to avoid breaching 1.5C, but we should now also be considering what happens if we continue to fail."
He insists on investing in geoengineering options such as carbon dioxide removal and even solar radiation management. He stresses the dilemma that they will have to spend far more on dealing with climate damage, making it difficult to transition to a sustainable world.
No for green approaches? People want to save their money
Although people may be very pro resorting to green energy, however, citizens will not say yes to greener alternatives if it means they have to pay more. Green reforms mean more taxes; people do not like that. Expensively adopted climate change policies will make people reject the need for climate change. They are more likely to defend their wallets than the environment to resort to green approaches in the face of climate change.
“I’m a massive fan of citizens’ assemblies because if people feel they have a role in decision-making, they’re more likely to maintain their support, even in a future in which the shocks start to rack up. They become moments where we actually do build back better,” said Laybourn.
