Urgency of Climate Change
The World Meteorological Organization 2021 report (WMO-No. 1264), confirms rapid climate change. Such changes are obviously multi-faceted, with acidification of the oceans, algal blooms, loss of marine life, terrestrial run-off, to name a few impacts. How we respond to climate change requires community and political action and wisdom beyond our detailed knowledge of climactic ecosystems.
The world’s academies are agreed on the anthropogenic nature of climate change. We are coming to better understand the many ways that this will impact and change our lives, with those in the Pacific leading the clarion call to action due to the urgency they face in their island homelands. Furthermore, it is now being better understood in the rest of the world.
“The 1.5°C Paris guard-rail is close to being breached. The way we are running human affairs is destabilising the climate system, with predictable and increasingly dire consequences. It’s time for an uprising of concerted action to fix politics – managing the climate crisis will follow.”
Professor Chris Rapley, University College London, UK (2021).
Mitigating or reversing the effects of climate change is the biggest scientific and humanistic challenge of our generation(s). We will need to steer our economy not just to cope with the potential for pandemics but also a de-carbonised and fairer society. Royal Society Te Apārangi has anticipated the complexity of this task by including experts from the social sciences and humanities as well as the natural sciences. While Covid-19 has proved the worth of good science advice, it also proved the need for political leadership and humanitarian values. We are committed to contributing diligently to this endeavour going forward.