The 10 hottest years in recorded history have occurred in the last 15 years. CO2 levels are estimated to be the highest in at least 650,000 years.
From El País, the following summary of the declaration in Paris regarding the climate crisis and global warming.
The earth, air and water have suffered a warming. This is already a certainty, according to the report presented yesterday in Paris, after a week of debates by 500 experts, by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) created by the UN. And it is largely man-made. “The net effect of human activities since 1750”, i.e. since the first industrial revolution, has been global warming, which has increased since 1960, mainly due to the use of fossil fuels and changes in land use. If things continue as they are, the world’s average temperature will probably rise by 1.8 to 4 degrees by the end of the century, sea levels will rise by 28 to 43 centimeters, which would be disastrous for countries like Bangladesh, and there will almost certainly be more heat waves and more intense tropical storms.
Climate change will bring more heat, more droughts and torrential rains Rather than major developments, this report and others to follow provide the necessary scientific basis for enforceable agreements for all on a global scale, with a summary for decision-makers. The Kyoto Protocol has fallen short, and its expiration date, 2012, is too long. We cannot wait that long, and this time the United States, China and India must jump on the bandwagon.We are all sitting on a time bomb, which we can defuse. Warming can have dramatic effects on individual life, collective life and global security. It is worth recalling that Nicholas Stern’s previous report concluded that by spending 1% of global GDP annually, this warming could be reversed. If nothing is done, 5% and up to 20% of GDP will be lost. In fact, the report itself acknowledges that progress has been made, for example, in the use of harmful aerosols.
Alarm bells are ringing. The extent of the five-minute voluntary blackout on Thursday afternoon shows that citizen awareness is growing, and more and more politicians are catching on. Science led to the industrial revolution. Now it comes to us with this warning. It can also bring remedies. It is not clear that we humans are the inheritors of the Earth, but we are responsible for preserving it, even if it is out of pure selfishness, since the effects of warming are already a fact in the short and medium term. Rectifying the effects of human behavior in this area is up to all of us and will force us to rebalance growth and economic solidarity, our way of life and the very concept of progress. If we don’t do something, the last one will not even be able to turn off the light.