the state of the planet is broken
dear friends humanity is waging war on
nature
this is suicidal nature always strikes
back
and it is already doing so with growing
force
and fury it is time to flick the green
switch
we have a chance not simply to reset the
world economy
but to transform it well that was the u
n secretary general antonio gutierrez
today
urging world leaders to make the fight
against global warming a priority in
2021.
the data from 2020 is already alarming
two major u.n reports published today
say this year is on track to be one of
the hottest ever recorded
and they say human-caused greenhouse
gases are to blame now there is some
progress
127 countries are considering or have
adopted
net zero emissions targets but the u.n
says too many governments are still
expanding their
fossil fuel industries
all right for more now let's cross over
to stanford in california and bring in
noah diffenbaugh who's a climate
scientist
at stanford now it's good to have you on
the program the words today
from antonio gutierrez a suicidal war
on nature that's some of the strongest
languages that we have ever heard from
a u.n leader is this sense of urgency
is it being matched in policy
well the the core of the climate
challenge is really that
uh you know the climate change is a side
effect of
energy consumption uh fossil fuel
uh energy consumption and uh you know
that
that energy consumption is really
critical for human well-being and the
reality is we don't
supply as much energy as we need to
globally
right now so the the real challenge uh
is how to
ensure that all uh people on earth have
access to the energy that's necessary
for well-being
while simultaneously stabilizing the
climate system and in order to stabilize
the climate system
you know we we will have to reach net
zero
emissions that's just the fundamental uh
physics of planet earth
the rhetoric that's been coming from the
incoming joe biden administration
sounds good he's he's even appointed
john kerry to be the special envoy
for the climate um isn't the us
though too far behind here to play
catch-up
well uh you know the the the the
what's key about about global warming
and climate change is really uh
you know the cumulative total emissions
uh you know the the global warming that
we get are
essentially proportional to the total
global emissions the us has been around
a quarter around 25 percent of the
greenhouse gas emissions historically
the largest single
contributor to the total global warming
to date
and the u.s has also been a driver of
innovation
uh california for example uh where
i live has you know has has been a real
leader
in uh being a test bed for climate
policies for
technologies for showing that it's
possible to
decrease greenhouse gas emissions while
also
continuing to have economic growth and
have
have a vibrant economy we have a lot a
long way to go here in california to
continue to address inequality but
that's something that has been
prioritized
in the latest uh state climate policy so
uh within the u.s uh and and uh with
even within the federal government there
is a lot of
uh leadership and you know there's
uh potential to continue to accelerate
that leadership
uh in the years ahead um we know that
this is one of the
hottest years on record and i'm sure
where you are
you've seen or smelt the smoke from the
california wildfires
this year i mean we're even talking
about heat waves in the oceans
now 2020 the warmest oceans
have been in recorded history that was
part of the report that came out today
is it not a source of deep frustration
to you that the u.s
at least on a federal level has
sat this one out for four important
years
uh you know as as scientists we're
trying to understand the way the world
works
uh we've learned a lot about uh the
climate system
uh over the last decade in particular
uh uh about how the global warming
that's
already happened is impacting people and
ecosystems
the wildfires that you mentioned here in
california which
absolutely have been nearby in the bay
area
and enveloped not just the bay area but
but so much of california and the west
coast
of the united states in smoke uh you
know our
our research shows that you know
california
you know is now experiencing about twice
as many
extreme wildfire weather days
as four decades ago the area burned
in the western united states has
increased around tenfold in the last
four decades about half of that is
attributable to
long-term global warming so we
we have a much clearer understanding of
uh the impacts of climate change
here and now compared with
with a decade or two ago we also have
clear understanding that those impacts
will accelerate
uh as global warming continues uh so
uh you know really we're in a situation
where the more global warming we get
the the greater the risk the more
intense the impacts reducing the level
of global warming will
reduce that intensification but we
already know where
we're experiencing impacts from the
1.1 degree celsius of warming we've
already had
even at two degrees of warming or even
at one and a half degree of warming
we'll have more
more uh intensification of risks
relative to today
so it's it's a challenge
it's a solvable challenge it will
require uh
increasing energy access
decarbonizing the energy system and
adapting to climate change
professor noah different bond stanford
university
professor we appreciate your time and
your insights tonight thank you very
much
thank you