Addressing climate change is a ‘possible mission’
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33393/gcnd.2020.2206Keywords:
Climate change, Global warming, Greenhouse gases emissions, HealthAbstract
Climate change is real, and we, humans, are responsible for it. Its impact is already evident, both on the Earth system (global warming, sea-level rise, sea-ice melting, more intense and frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves and fires) and on people (famines, health issues, migrations, political tensions and conflicts). We need immediate and concrete mitigation actions aiming to reduce greenhouse gases emissions, and adaptation actions to be able to cope with the increasing changing climate. We have to reach zero-net greenhouse gases emissions as soon as possible, by reducing emissions by at least 5% a year, starting from now. Otherwise the climate change impact will become more and more severe: it will induce more injustice, and it will have a major impact on people health. We have the resources and the technologies to deal with it: we must have the courage to change and transform and deal with it. Addressing climate change is not impossible: to the contrary, it is a ‘possible mission’.
Downloads
References
IPCC, 2014. Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, pp. 151.
C3S, 2020. European Union Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Bulletin November 2020. Available online from the C3S website (https://climate.copernicus.eu/climate-bulletins)
COP21, 2015. “The Paris Agreement” of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference Of the Parties (COP) 21st meeting. Available online from the UNFCCC website (https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf)
Fussell HM, Marx A, Hilden M, et al. 2017: Climate change, impacts and vulnerability in Europe. 2016: an indicator-based report. European Environmental Agency Report 1/2017, pp. 424. (https://doi.org/10.2800/534806) ISSN 1977-8449; ISBN: 978-92-9213-835-6
Serreze MC, Meier WN. The Arctic’s sea ice cover: trends, variability, predictability, and comparisons to the Antarctic. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2019;1436(1):36-53. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.13856 PMID:29806697
Royal Society, 2020. Climate change: evidence and causes. An overview from the Royal Society and the US National Academy of Science, pp. 24. Available online from the United Kingdom Royal Society website (https://royalsociety.org/~/media/royal_society_content/policy/projects/climate-evidence-causes/climate-change-evidence-causes.pdf)
NOAA/Scripps Mauna Loa Observatory, 2020: online data from the observatory, website: https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/obop/mlo/
Liu Z, Ciais P, Deng Z, et al. Near-real-time monitoring of global CO2 emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nat Commun. 2020;11(1):5172. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18922-7 PMID:33057164
UNFCCC, 2007. Investment and financial flows to address climate change. pp 271. Available online from the UNFCCC website: (https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/background_publications_htmlpdf/application/pdf/pub_07_financial_flows.pdf. (ISBN 92-9219-042-3)
Watts N. The Lancet countdown: tracking progress on health and climate change. Lancet. 2017;389:1151-1164. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)32124-9. Online (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)32124-9/fulltext)
Watts N, Amann M, Arnell N, et al. The 2019 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: ensuring that the health of a child born today is not defined by a changing climate. Lancet. 2019;394(10211):1836-1878. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32596-6. PMID:31733928
Solomon, CG, LaRocque RG. 2019: Climate Change: a health emergency. N Engl J Med. 2019; 380:209-211. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp1817067
IPCC, 1990. The First Assessment Report (FAR): synthesis report. Available online from the IPCC website: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar1/syr/.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2020 The authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors contributing to Giornale di Clinica Nefrologica e Dialisi (GCND) agree to publish their articles under the CC-BY-NC 4.0 license, which allows third parties to re-use the work without permission as long as the work is properly referenced and the use is non-commercial.
Accepted 2020-11-14
Published 2020-12-07