Thank you.
Geoff: Welcome to the
"Newshour."
Scientists warned today that
climate change is warming the
planet to the point where it is
causing irreversible damage in
some parts of the world.
Amna: The new report from the
united nations intergovernmental
panel on climate change, or
ipcc, found that within a
decade, the world is likely to
miss its goal of holding global
warming to 1.5 degrees celsius
or 2.7 degrees fahrenheit.
If or when the planet reaches
that level, scientists say Earth
will pass tipping points that
will lead to catastrophic
environmental damage, including
dangerous sea level rise, entire
species going extinct, and even
greater suffering in many
nations, especially the poorest.
U.N. Secretary general Antonio
guterres said the time to act is
now.
>> Humidity is on thin ice, and
that eyes is melting fast.
The rate of temperature rise in
the last century is the highest
in 2000 years.
Concentrations of carbon dioxide
are at their highest in at least
2 million years.
The climate time bomb is
ticking.
Amna: For a closer look at the
report and what can be done to
change the direction the planet
is headed, I'm joined by
Katharine Hayhoe, climate
scientist at Texas Tech
university and chief scientist
for the nature conservancy.
Welcome back.
That is strong language from
Antonio guterres there, saying
humanity is on thin ice, the
climate time bomb is ticking.
This is about as dire and urgent
a report and a warning as we
have heard.
Why now?
Katharine: It is completely
justified.
We scientists have been warning
about the impacts of climate
change on humans, and all life
on this planet, for decades.
Yet our carbon emissions
continue to rise.
As the report says, the window
of opportunity we have to make
decisions that will lead us to a
better future is closing
rapidly.
Amna: That increase in global
average temperature you have
been trying to keep the 1.5
degrees celsius, some refer to
as the tipping point, we seem to
be hurtling towards that right
now.
As we cross that threshold, if
we are to cross that threshold,
help us understand what does
that mean for life on Earth?
For our kids, grandkids, how
will their lives be different?
Katharine: 1.5 degrees is not a
magic threshold or a tipping
point.
It is a goal we set ourselves
knowing that the science is very
clear.
Every bit of warming matters.
Every little bit that the planet
warms carries additional costs
with it.
So, how much do we need to do?
As much as possible, as soon as
possible, because we will all
benefit from that action.
Amna: And if we don't, what
looks different here on Earth?
Katharine: We're already seeing
the impacts today in the way
climate change is loading the
weather dies against us.
We have always had floods and
droughts and hurricanes and heat
waves, but in a warming world
they are getting stronger and
more dangerous, and they are
impacting on the bus but
particularly affecting those who
are vulnerable and marginalized
the most.
The warmer the world gets, the
more it endangers our food
supply, our water supply, the
safety of our homes, our own
health, our economy and supply
chains, the natural environment.
Every aspect of life on Earth,
including our life on Earth, is
at risk the warmer this planet
gets.
Amna: This report says in order
to shift course we need to slash
greenhouse gases in half by 2030
and stop adding carbon dioxide
to the atmosphere altogether by
the early 2050's.
Do you see that happening?
Katharine: It is possible.
If we have the will to do so, we
can accomplish it.
But the problem we have today is
we still -- many of us -- do not
really understand how this issue
affects us here and now.
And we don't understand that the
majority of the solutions we
need are already in our hands.
That is what the ipcc report
makes very clear, that these
changes are already affecting
us, our homes, our food, our
water, our economy, our cities,
our states.
And the solutions, efficiency,
clean energy, investing in
nature, adapting and building
resilience -- many of those
solutions are here today as
well.
The only question at this point
is what are we waiting for?
If we wanted to accomplish this,
we could.
Amna: There are some who say
they had been worse productions,
that there could be a warming of
four degrees or more sooner,
which now looks unlikely.
Some will be looking at this and
say, could these productions be
wrong as well?
Katharine: The previous
productions were not wrong.
The uncertainty is us.
The predictions are for what
will happen depending on the
choices we make.
Prior to the Paris agreement in
2015, the world was heading
towards a future that was
between four to five degrees
celsius warmer than today.
You might say, well, that does
not sound that bad, it's four O
R five degrees warmer.
But think of it in terms of the
human body.
The temperature of the planet
has been as stable as that of
the human body over the course
of human civilization.
If our body is running a fever
of one or two degrees celsius,
or four to six degrees celsius,
that is life-threatening.
We have already, thanks to the
Paris agreement, reduced the
amount of change we can expect
by policies enacted by at least
one degree.
But we still need more, because
every bit of warming carries a
costs with it.
Amna: These warnings have been
coming for decades, so I am
curious why you think it is the
climate threat has resided in
many people's minds as a future
threat, not necessarily an
imminent one.
Katharine: For many of us it is
because we have not seen the
impacts with our own eyes.
We have heard about them.
We know what is happening to
polar bears, Antarctica, or ice
sheets, but we are not seeing
it here and now.
Well, that has changed.
Over the last year at least one
in three Americans have been
personally affected by climate
change.
We might live somewhere where
hurricanes are getting stronger,
wild fires burning greater
areas, where the summer is
dominated by record-breaking
heat waves.
Climate change no longer a
future issue, it is right here
where we live, it is right now,
and the time to fix it is also
here and now.
Amna: That is Katharine Hayhoe,
climate scientist and chief
scientist for the nature
conservancy.
Thank you for joining us.
Katharine: Thank you so much for
having me.