According to the UN, global warming will reach a critical level by the early 2030s.

The Earth is expected to reach a critical level of global warming early in the next decade. To avoid this point of no return, governments need to make an immediate and radical phase out of fossil fuelsThis is stated in the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, convened by the United Nations (UN).

The forecast indicates that the average global temperature will rise 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels in the first half of the 2030s. This would mean the failure of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, in which almost all countries of the world committed to take measures to prevent global warming from exceeding this threshold.

The consequences are already affecting the entire planet: catastrophic heatwaves, unprecedented droughts and the extinction of various species. But at that moment, experts say, it will be much more difficult for humanity to control everything. “The point of no return is approaching”UN Secretary General António Guterres said today.

Hundreds of scientists from all over the world took part in the report. The text was approved last week by 195 countries. Pennsylvania. This means that states have accepted their findings as legitimate recommendations to support their policies against global warming.

Last chance to prevent global warming from reaching critical levels

There is one last chance. To prevent global warming from reaching a critical level, industrialized countries will have to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Then, in the early 2050s, they will have to cut their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions completely. If this is achieved, the report says, the world will 50% chance to limit warming to 1.5℃.

Last year, the planet recorded a record amount of CO2 emissions. In total they were released 36.8 billion tons of polluting gases. The existing fossil fuel mix plus the planned one – coal-fired power plants, oil wells, factories, cars, etc. – will produce enough carbon dioxide to warm the planet by about 2℃ by the end of this century.

“Humanity is walking on thin ice, and that ice is melting fast… Our world needs climate change action on all fronts. Everything, everywhere, all at once.”

António Guterres, UN Secretary General.

The published report is not regular. It offers the most comprehensive analysis known to date, as it is the final item in a series of reports summarizing global warming research conducted by this group of experts since the signing of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. The next round of reports will not be published until the second half of this decade. By then, however, it may be too late to take the necessary action, the researchers explain.

The states will meet in Dubai this December for a UN-sponsored climate summit. The meeting will evaluate global efforts to reduce emissions of polluting gases and requests for assistance from the poorest countries.