The climate crisis will mean more severe weather events like floods, droughts and heatwaves as well as rising sea levels threatening coastal communities. We’ve already seen changes in these areas over recent years but if temperatures continue to rise unabated then there will be much worse to come
1. What is the climate crisis?
The climate crisis is defined as the warming of the Earth’s climate system, which has been caused by an increase in average surface temperatures.
This warming has been proven to be caused by greenhouse gases and fossil fuels. The climate crisis can also be called global warming or anthropogenic global warming, though these terms may cause confusion if you’re not familiar with them yet.
2. What are the legal measures to counteract climate change in Europe?
Europe has a number of legal measures in place to counteract climate change. Some of the most important are:
–The Paris Agreement on Climate Change was adopted in December 2015 and entered into force in November 2016. It commits signatory countries to efforts to limit global temperature rise well below 2°C, with an aspirational target of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (the current level at which we stand is around 1°C).
The Agreement also includes provisions for loss and damage caused by climate change, which may be brought to tribunals by states affected by extreme weather events or other adverse impacts of climate change.
The Paris Agreement is an international treaty drafted by 195 countries in 2015 with recommendations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions over time.
At the same time, it takes into account how individual nations’ circumstances differ from those of others—for example, Australia may need more time than other nations because they don’t have as much renewable energy infrastructure currently set up within their borders yet–while also ensuring environmental justice across all borders so no one country feels left behind or gets burned by unfair treatment.
When making decisions about these types of matters together as one collective body rather than individually without any input from others involved directly affected parties in some way shape form or fashion.
Currently many countries around the world are already taking action against climate change—but these actions need to be scaled up significantly, as well as coordinated between governments and businesses worldwide.
–The EU’s 2030 climate and energy framework aims to reduce greenhouse emissions across Europe by 40% compared with 1990 levels by 2030.
On top of this, member states will have individual targets for reducing emissions from energy use and industrial production that were set out during the ratification process for the 2014 Paris Agreement (though these will not replace national targets).
In addition, members are required to achieve 20% energy efficiency improvement across all sectors between 2005–2020; increase renewable energy sources up from 15% today—to 27% by 2030; and encourage decarbonised transport systems through biofuels or carbon capture technologies such as CO2 storage in forests/soil carbon sinks—to reach 30% share in 2050 as part of its commitments under Article 6(4)b) of UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emission reductions before 2020 (Article 6(4)b).
3. Why are governments’ current plans to reduce emissions not enough, is there still time?
While the Paris Agreement was a breakthrough, it was not enough. The world has already warmed 1 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels and is on track to warm another 2 degrees Celsius by 2100 if current emissions continue unabated.
If we want to avoid catastrophic climate change, we need more than just reductions in emissions: We need to stop burning fossil fuels altogether.
To answer the question whether we still have time, the answer is yes. But we need to act now. The time to act is now because of the long lag time between when we emit greenhouse gases and when the effects are felt.
It takes decades for carbon dioxide that has been emitted into the atmosphere by burning coal, oil and gas to warm our planet.
The longer we delay taking action, the worse it will get: more heat waves; hotter average temperatures; more extreme weather events such as floods and droughts; rising sea levels; loss of natural habitats; extinction of species (including humans); food insecurity…the list goes on.
By acting now — which means moving away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources like wind turbines or solar panels — we can limit global temperature rise to 1-2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels (or even lower).
And if we continue our current trajectory towards higher temperatures — say 3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — then by 2100 there will be hundreds more million people experiencing water stress than today due to climate change alone (i.e., without other factors such as population growth).
4. So what needs to change now to avoid climate crisis?
What should we do about climate change now? First, the Paris Agreement is not enough. In order to avoid the worst effects of climate change, we will need to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 and 100% by 2050 at the latest.
We can’t afford to wait until 2020 or even 2025 before acting. Second, it’s time for every country in the world to help lead this effort—not just rich countries like the United States or China, but also emerging economies such as India or others such as Brazil.
And third, everyone needs to pay their fair share; we cannot afford a new climate crisis while paying off past ones like pollution cleanup costs or natural disaster relief funds that have been borrowed from future generations (or worse: uninsured).
5. How do we transform our economies and lifestyles?
The question is how do we transform our economies and lifestyles without imposing excessive costs
on some sections of society and regions such as poorer countries and northern Europe who are acting earlier?
The world needs to be ambitious, but also realistic. It is clear that climate change will have significant impacts on economic growth and living standards in poorer countries.
If we were to limit warming to 1.5°C, this would mean keeping fossil fuels below a third of current levels by 2050 – but there are no credible scenarios that show how this could be achieved without increasing energy costs significantly or simply abandoning fossil fuels altogether.
In order to meet this goal while minimising harm, rich nations need to acknowledge that they have benefited most from burning coal, oil and gas over the past century, so it’s only fair for them take on greater responsibility for reducing their own carbon emissions quickly now – even though this means sacrificing short term growth opportunities relative to other countries around the world (such as China).
6. Is this a pipedream?
Are we really going to bring about the changes necessary in just 10 years? While the climate crisis is a global problem, it’s important to remember that every individual can have an impact on climate change.
As individuals, we can reduce our carbon footprint by using public transportation more often, recycling more and reusing glass containers for storage, eating less meat and dairy products (which involves less food waste), and changing light bulbs to LEDs which use less electricity.
For the past 10 years, countries around the world have been working towards a common goal: preventing catastrophic warming of the planet by limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100.
This seems like a lofty goal considering that we are currently experiencing an average 2°C increase in temperatures compared with pre-industrial levels; however, there are signs that this goal may be within reach if nations continue to cooperate with one another on reducing greenhouse gas emissions over time (and if they follow through with their commitments).
Conclusion on climate change and global warming
The next decade is crucial if the world is to avoid catastrophic levels of global warming, scientists say, with governments needing to take urgent, sweeping action against fossil fuels in order to avoid climate breakdown. If we don’t act now, we’ll face catastrophic levels of global warming, but we can still make the changes we need in time.
The good news is that this time there are real opportunities for leaders who want to show leadership on climate change – there’s a lot more momentum than ever before, including major corporations and countries making pledges that can drive change on an unprecedented scale.
But if we’re going to get anywhere near the targets agreed at Paris last year then today’s leaders will have to act fast – because tomorrow won’t be soon enough!