The IPCC has recently released the Report: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability to warn about the consequences of climate change on human well-being and the health of the planet.
The report describes a society running out of time to prevent unbearable damage to the planet’s lands and waters and to the people and creatures that depend on them.
”Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a livable future.” said Hans-Otto Pörtner, co-chair of the IPCC working group that produced the report. The key findings related to water are:
Water is at the core of the biggest risks and opportunities identified in the report. As the water cycle is speeding up, warming temperatures are causing rapid shifts between wet and dry, flood and drought.
Intense rainfall and sea rising are altering water supplies and stressing agriculture, with slower growth in crop yields.
While waterbone disease are expected to increase, the fear of extreme weather are intensifying depression and anxiety
Floods, storms, and droughts are likely to occur in countries with higher vulnerabilities like Africa, South Asia, Central and South America
Innovations to tackle climate change are all there, we just need concrete political will, public support, technical expertise, and financing.
