What to know about the ‘house on fire’ UN climate report
By SETH BORENSTEIN and FRANK JORDANS, Associated Press
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AP Photo/Noah Berger, File
FILE - Bruce McDougal watches embers fly over his property as the Bond Fire burns through the Silverado community in Orange County, Calif., on Dec. 3, 2020. The United Nations on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, released a new report on climate change.
Deadly with extreme weather now, climate change is about to get so much worse. It is likely going to make the world sicker, hungrier, poorer, gloomier and way more dangerous in the next 18 years with an “unavoidable” increase in risks, a new United Nations science report says.
And after that watch out.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report said Monday that if human-caused global warming isn’t limited to just another couple tenths of a degree, an Earth now struck regularly by deadly heat, fires, floods and drought in future decades will degrade in 127 ways, with some being “potentially irreversible.”
“The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health,” says the major report designed to guide world leaders in their efforts to curb climate change. Delaying cuts in heat-trapping carbon emissions and waiting on adapting to warming’s impacts, it warns, “will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.”
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PHOTO GALLERY
Noah Berger
FILE - Bruce McDougal watches embers fly over his property as the Bond Fire burns through the Silverado community in Orange County, Calif., on Dec. 3, 2020. The United Nations on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, released a new report on climate change. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
Brian Inganga
FILE - Mohamed Mohamud, a ranger from the Sabuli Wildlife Conservancy, looks at the carcass of a giraffe that died of hunger near Matana Village, Wajir County, Kenya, Monday, Oct. 25, 2021. The United Nations on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, released a new report on climate change. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)
Brian Inganga
FILE - Rangers from the Sabuli Wildlife Conservancy supply water from a tanker for wild animals in the conservancy in Wajir County, Kenya, Oct. 26, 2021. The United Nations on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, released a new report on climate change. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)
David J. Phillip
FILE - Homes are flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, in Jean Lafitte, La. The United Nations on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, released a new report on climate change. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
Alberto Pezzali
FILE - A youngster, with an eye drawn on her hand to show she is watching and 1.5 for countries to keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, takes part in a Fridays for Future climate protest inside a plenary corridor at the SEC (Scottish Event Campus) venue for the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit, in Glasgow, Scotland, Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. The United Nations on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, released a new report on climate change. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)
Leo Correa
FILE - Houses lay between the Senegal river, top, and the Atlantic Ocean beach that has been affected by erosion in Saint Louis, Senegal, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021. The United Nations on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, released a new report on climate change. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
John Locher
FILE - Shayanne Summers holds her dog, Toph, while wrapped in a blanket after several days of staying in a tent at an evacuation center at the Milwaukie-Portland Elks Lodge, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, in Oak Grove, Ore. The United Nations on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, released a new report on climate change. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
Emilio Morenatti
FILE - Roots are photographed near the old village of Aceredo in northwestern Spain, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. The United Nations on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, released a new report on climate change. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
Alvaro Barrientos
FIL E- Fog covers the landscape in a flooded area near the Ebro River in the small village of Alcala de Ebro, Aragon province, northern Spain, Dec. 13, 2021. The United Nations on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, released a new report on climate change. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos, File)
Scott Heppell
FILE - Climate activists take part in a demonstration outside the venue of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. The United Nations on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, released a new report on climate change. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)
David J. Phillip
FILE - Diver Everton Simpson plants staghorn harvested from a coral nursery inside the the White River Fish Sanctuary Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019, in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Simpson uses bits of fishing line to tie clusters of staghorn coral onto rocky outcroppings, a temporary binding until the coral's limestone skeleton grows and fixes itself onto the rock. The goal is to jumpstart the natural growth of a coral reef. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
Victor R. Caivano
FILE - Jungle stands next to an area that was burnt due to wildfires near Porto Velho, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 23, 2019. The United Nations on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, released a new report on climate change. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano, File)
John Locher
FILE - Yvonne Lacobon hugs a dog beside Tommy Williams at Williams' home damaged by Hurricane Ida, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, in Dulac, La. The United Nations on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, released a new report on climate change. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
