Climate report: ‘Uncharted territory’ imperils life on Earth - University of Exeter
Earth’s vital signs have worsened beyond anything humans have yet seen – to the point that life on the planet is imperiled, according to new research.
The study assess planetary vital signs and finds that 20 out of 35 are at record extremes.
The paper comes from an international coalition of climate scientists led by William Ripple, distinguished professor in the Oregon State University (OSU) College of Forestry, and former OSU postdoctoral researcher Christopher Wolf.
“Without actions that address the root problem of humanity taking more from the Earth than it can safely give, we’re on our way to the potential collapse of natural and socioeconomic systems and a world with unbearable heat and shortages of food and freshwater,” Wolf said.
The authors share new data illustrating that many climate-related records were broken by “enormous margins” in 2023, particularly those relating to ocean temperatures and sea ice. They also note an extraordinary Canadian wildfire season that produced unprecedented carbon dioxide emissions.
“Life on our planet is clearly under siege,” Ripple said. “The statistical trends show deeply alarming patterns of climate-related variables and disasters. We also found little progress to report as far as humanity combating climate change.”
Among the key numbers in the report:
- Fossil fuel subsidies – actions by governments that artificially lower the cost of energy production, raise the price received by producers or lower the price paid by consumers – roughly doubled between 2021 and 2022, from $531 billion to just over $1 trillion.
- Already this year wildfires in Canada have pumped more than 1 gigaton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, greater than Canada’s total 2021 greenhouse gas emissions of 0.67 gigatons.
- In 2023, there have already been 38 days with global average temperatures more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Until this year, such days were a rarity.
- The highest average Earth surface temperature ever recorded came this July, and there’s reason to believe it was the highest surface temperature the planet has seen in the last 100,000 years.
The paper, published in BioScience, is entitled: “The 2023 State of the climate report: Entering uncharted territory.”