EDITORIAL: UN climate report must be heeded

The Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change makes the full impact of climate change clear. Here’s just a sampling:

• The frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation rain events have increased since the 1950s.
• In the last decade, deaths from floods, droughts and storms were 15 times higher in regions that are highly vulnerable to climate change.
• Sea levels will rise along two-thirds of global coastlines.
• Greenland and the West Antarctic ice sheets will be gone.

And the report makes it clear that humans have been responsible for virtually all global warming over the past 200 years.

Amid the gloom, there is good news, depending on how we define “good.”

Some of humanity’s actions — principally, the switch from coal to gas and the use of renewable energy sources to reduce reliance on coal — have helped decrease greenhouse gases and carbon use.

But progress has been slowed by continued allegiance to coal-fueled industries. Gov. Eric Holcomb recently signed into law a bill that reduces incentives to adopt wind and solar power in Indiana.

One of the bill’s authors, Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, was concerned that Indiana was diving too quickly into the alternative energy pool. Coal burning electric utilities were pleased.

Such misguided laws are far from the political commitment that the UN encourages to achieve deep emissions reductions and climate resilience.

Policies need to be coordinated inside the United States and internationally. And people need to be educated about how ecosystems are connected with society.

Effective conservation of 30%-50% of the Earth’s land, freshwater and ocean would help ensure a healthy planet.

The UN report found that global carbon intensity decreases by 0.3% annually, mainly due to switching from coal to gas, reduced expansion of coal capacity, and increased use of renewables.

Elements of the report have previously been discussed around the world. But this analysis brings those elements into focus in a sciencebased presentation.

We can — and must — do more before the time bomb ticks down to zero.