Our planet is warming with the average surface temperature having risen 2.12 degrees Fahrenheit (1.18 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Most of the warming has occurred over the past 40 years, with the seven most recent years being the warmest on record. The years 2016 and 2020 are tied for the warmest, with July 2021 being the warmest month across the globe since temperatures have been recorded. Scientists have warned that the tipping point leading to planetary destruction is a rise of 1.5 Celsius; it is now estimated that humans can release the equivalent of about 10 years of current global emissions to have an even chance at keeping temperatures below this level. Global warming has caused significant melt of our polar ice, causing global sea levels to rise about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in the last century. The rate in the last two decades, however, is nearly double that of the last century and continues to accelerate slightly every year. It is estimated that the sea level rise in the next 10 years will displace over 630 million people from their homes causing the greatest migration in earth’s history. As coastal land disappears, coastal dwellers are forced to move inland creating more pressure on communities that are already struggling to provide services to their residents.
This warming of our planet is inducing extreme weather events with greater frequency and intensity. Droughts have become longer and drier, while rainfall events have become more extreme. In the United States alone, between 1980 and 2021, there have been 298 weather and climate disasters that have each caused more than $1 billion of damage. This list does not include wildfires caused from the extreme heat and droughts. Since 2000 there have been 12 wildfires causing over $1 billion in damage in the United States. Cumulatively these 12 events have caused over $44 billion in damages. As of August, the United States had a total of 37,650 fires destroy over 3 million acres of land with 91 working fires still burning. Besides the financial cost of the damage, these fires send tons of carbon into the atmosphere while eliminating millions of acres of trees that scrub the carbon from our air before it hits our atmosphere. The August 2021 IPCC report underscores that changes in human activity potentially can have a profound impact to shape a better future by sharply reducing emissions. It is through our actions alone that we can decide the future of our planet. The report also notices that we can no longer avoid some measure of calamity in the coming years, our past impact has been too great and too detrimental to save us from escaping the future without harm.
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Center for Business and Economic Insight
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