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Climate Corner ARE WE LISTENING TO
THE CLIMATE DOCTORS?

melting. This cannot be just this past month. As
good for the Earth. the planet warms, rains
To add to our planet’s will increase over the
distresses, The European Arctic Pole, and melting
Space Agency has ice from both poles, can
calculated that yearly set up a domino effect
forest fires affect an area that the human species
as large as entire India will have a hard time
per year, or half the size running away from. A
of the United States of critical point to remember
America. This summer is that 1.5 degrees rise or
alone, Turkey has seen not, what may seem like
the worst wildfires in the a miniscule rise of 0.2
country’s history, and in degrees Celsius can mean
Greece, people have been the monumental
forced to leave their difference between a
homes as 250,000 acres freezing and a thawing
of forests burned in just event in either of the
one month. In the poles. In past IPCC
Canadian province of reports, the scientists’
British Columbia, the assessments were rather
town of Lytton has been The charred remnants of homes and buildings in Lytton last month. Two conservative in many
completely destroyed by wildfires and the people were killed in the Lytton blaze and most of the town destroyed. areas including sea level rise by 2 meters
Photograph: Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters
village of Monte Lake this past week has been without addressing scenarios of the melting of
seriously affected. Fire fighters are routinely polar ice caps. However, this time, it is clear
seeing that the fires are behaving in a way that that sea level will rise to 2 meters, even if the will have to do strong research to find the exact cause of this
has never been seen before. And in June, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports are an planet’s temperature stabilizes at 1.5 degrees massive methane emission and figure out solutions with
mussels and clams were being cooked alive assessment report that coalesces thousands of cutting-edge Celsius and even if we go towards net zero international help to address it.
from the heat in beaches in British Columbia. data and research from hundreds of scientists from across the emissions. This can spell disaster for low lying However, there is another important point to be made.
The bottom line is clear, our planet is ailing globe to bring immediate attention to climate change countries such as Bangladesh, Maldives, Generally speaking, our overt dependence on data has in fact
and we must act immediately. challenges. It provides strong scientific analysis and Tuvalu, to name a few, and thus the reports greatly slowed us down to take action. While our predictions
The old saying, that the developed countries recommendations that helps to inform policy and potential from working group 2 and 3 will be critical for have vastly improved in many areas since the industrial
polluted for the last 100 years, made national and international law. It isn’t country specific but long-term planning for all low-lying countries. revolution, planetary changes in a geologic time scale have an
monumental strides in economic success and planetary specific, and since climate change does not follow The conclusion is clear, in that we have incredible number of variables. The key should be this: as long
therefore the poor countries should be able to political boundaries it’s applicability rests on the entire planet irrefutable evidence our climate is racing as we are generally certain that the planet is ailing due to
do the same, is an egregious way to address and therefore every country. towards a new tipping point. emissions from the use of fossil fuels, then we must act
the poverty-climate link. A good way forward The IPCC report culminates three areas of focus organized by While the warnings are clear, there is a silver immediately, data or not. We cannot afford to wait for yet
to enable developmental opportunities for three working groups and one final synthesis report. The 6th lining running through the report. The clearer another perfect set of data due to the immense number of
poorer nations while reducing climate risks is assessment report contains “The Physical Science Basis of scientists are, the clearer will be the global variabilities involved. The information we have from working
through common but differentiated Climate Change” published in August 2021, followed by mitigation efforts. Thus far, we can be certain group I in the IPCC report is good enough for all regions of the
responsibility. It was first officially declared in “Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability” in February 2022, that going towards net zero emissions will world to work cohesively and take decisive action.
the 1992 United Nations Conference on “Mitigation of climate change” in March 2022, and the final enable us to slow the heating of the planet over The question looms over us if we will continue on this down
Environment and Development, setting the “Synthesis Report” to be published in October 2022. the 1.5 degrees threshold, even if it means we trodden path of climate injustice, and merely re-act to climate
foundation for a sound planetary action to Over 200 scientists from 66 countries helped to contribute to may not be able to stop global sea level rise. change? Or will we be proactive by instilling national climate
address climate change and ensure that poor the working group 1 report on the “Physical Science Basis of Thus, when policy makers and scientists policy that addresses our national and international
nations are not left behind. Yet, almost 30 Climate Change” published this August. This particular report convene in the next COP meeting to be held in obligations using evidence from the IPCC Reports? When we
If you have not been living temperatures have occurred years later, carbon dioxide emissions are still sounds the alarm in many critical areas. First, it is Glasgow, the data will be explicit and the are sick, we go to the doctors to get advice and prescribe us
under a rock, you would have only six times in the last exponentially rising, forest fires continue to unequivocally certain that climate change is anthropogenically policy should reflect the needs of the planet. medicine. If, for example, the doctor tells us to consume less
heard that never before in 2,000 years and three of grow as the planet continues to warm and (by humans) caused and hampering our land, oceans and Carbon emissions aside, methane traps heat sugar, we comply or else we suffer the consequences. And yet,
recent recorded history has 7 them were around the last unsustainable economic development atmosphere. Heat is increasing in both intensity and frequency more than carbon dioxide, over 80 times more when renowned scientists who have given off their entire lives
billion tons of rain fallen on decade alone! Furthermore, continues on its dirty path. Since the first that we have not seen in recorded history of our civilization. potent and thus has a monumental effect on to study the planetary sciences, inform us with utmost
the Greenland Ice Cap. If you scientists at the Summit climate conference, the hard truth is that we The report further supports that 1.5 degrees Celsius increase is the planet's warming. What is absolutely urgency that we are causing irreparable harm to our only
didn’t know, it isn’t supposed Camp base station in the have failed to reduce our emissions. And with very likely to occur within the next two decades, and it is safe shocking is that the European Space Agency home, we act strangely lethargic.
to be raining in either one of Arctic who have been taking our egregiously overlooked responsibility as to conclude that a lot needs to be done at the national and data showed that one of the largest methane
the planetary poles. measurements since the stewards of this planet, we are destroying global scale to curb Greenhouse Gas emissions to net zero. If gas emission plumes was over Bangladesh. Written by Shams-il Arefin Islam. Shams studied under the U.S. Climate
According to the Danish 1980s, have come to the dire other species along the way, and we will very not then it can be inferred that a cascading number of climate This is not good news for Bangladesh as it Diplomat Todd Stern, the former Assistant Director for the Environment, White
Meteorological Institute, ice conclusion that an area four likely destroy ourselves as well. extremes can make many areas of the planet uninhabitable. negotiates in the next COP meeting since House Office of Science and Technology Policy Professor Paul Anastas, and
core samples have shown times the size of the United Fortuitously for us, there is hope being The report also states that rainfall frequency and intensity will mitigation will be a key factor in the IPCC Professor Harold Koh former Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State, at
Yale University in the United States of America. He was also a student of one of
that above freezing Kingdom has had surface constructed as we speak. The increase as we have already seen over the Greenland Ice Cap report going forward. Bangladesh undoubtedly the Lead Authors of the IPCC Report Dr. Mizan R. Khan.

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