Avengers assemble... This week 180 climate change superheroes (scientists) are meeting in Edinburgh to plan the next best move in saving the planet.
The 180 are known as the Working Group III of the international Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The Co-Chair has stated that their ambition is to "equip governments with the information they need to act now, keeping in mind the goals of the Paris Agreement and national ambitions to achieve net zero emissions."
In 2015 we reached The Paris Agreement, this committed the world's nations to keeping global temperatures at bay, and making sure that temperature rises are well below 2°C, and limiting them to 1.5°C. However, in October 2018, after years of research, we were hit with the hard truth by the IPCC that if the higher temperature was reached, almost all of the world's coral reefs would be destroyed.
The Edinburgh meeting will assess the mitigation of climate change, and how we can slow it down. IPCC will look to examine the link between how we live our lives and greenhouse gas emissions. The role of technology will also be analysed, such as the role it plays through schemes of carbon storage and capture.
A recent report from the IPCC warned that there is only 12 years left for us to rewire the global economy, and dramatically cut carbon emissions if catastrophic climate change is to be avoided.
Co-chair Priyadarshi R Shukla said that the report being worked on in Edinburgh "will provide governments with scientific information to underpin responses to climate change in the context of sustainable development."
Thousands of Climate Change protesters have been marching the streets of London yesterday and today. They have been blocking the roads of the busiest areas of London such as Waterloo Bridge, Oxford Circus and Marble Arch.
More than 120 people have now been arrested. The group 'extinction rebellion' wants the government to cut Carbon Emissions to zero in six years. They are demanding the government to declare a climate emergency and tell 'the truth' about the climate crisis the planet is facing. The protesters are also demanding that legal binding policies are out in place to make the nation carbon neutral by 2025.
Although the goal of the planet being carbon neutral by 2025 is pretty much impossible, the message they are spreading is true - climate change needs addressing immediately. The world cannot exist how it is for any longer, our planet is deteriorating, and action is needed now.
The protesters have been slated for inconveniencing people, but think how inconvenient human kind have been for those affected by climate change so badly. Everyone was so shocked at David Attenborough's new series 'Our Planet' which saw Walruses fall to their deaths from a cliff edge, now is the time to act.