How to avoid a disastrous climate change

 The past eight years have been the hottest on record, in addition to a series of climate-related disasters like prolonged droughts and unprecedented flooding. Over two dozen high-profile climate change conferences and increasing scientific evidence about the various effects of global warming continue to drive up global emissions.

Based on a synthesis of several years' worth of scientific research, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations recently released yet another alarming report. This report not only emphasizes how urgently we need to act on climate change, but it also identifies crucial measures that should be taken right away to avoid a climate catastrophe.

The IPCC advises states to concentrate on methane reduction as the first significant step. Despite having a devastating impact on global warming, methane is a relatively short-lived air pollutant that remains in the atmosphere for approximately 20 years before transforming into carbon dioxide. Oil and gas extraction, coal mining, and animal husbandry all produce methane. Despite international commitments to address this issue, Russia is one of the worst emitters of methane. Due to their extensive livestock industries, countries like Pakistan also contribute a significant amount of methane. Global temperatures could be reduced by half a degree Celsius by drastically reducing methane production, which would be extremely helpful in addressing global warming.

The IPCC emphasizes the necessity of halting deforestation, which is destroying natural carbon sinks. Unsustainable deforestation is occurring all over the world as a result of population pressure, the demand for cultivable land, and timber mafias. The alarming rate of rainforest deforestation in the Amazon and Congo basins, as well as in countries that produce palm oil like Malaysia and Indonesia, is specifically mentioned by the IPCC.

The IPCC emphasizes the importance of protecting and restoring wetlands, which have been aggressively drained for agriculture and housing, particularly in the vicinity of overcrowded cities like Karachi. Wetlands also store a significant amount of carbon.

The world's oceans, which are also significant natural carbon sinks, should also be protected, according to the IPCC. However, rising temperatures and the pumping of agricultural runoff into the seas are rapidly reducing the oceans' capacity to store carbon. This causes algae to bloom, damages coral reefs, disrupts the oceans' natural carbon cycle, and has devastating effects on marine life.

The IPCC calls for eating habits to change all over the world. Globally, a staggering amount of meat and dairy are consumed, which consume significantly more resources than equally nutritious plants.

Finally, the IPCC recommends cutting back on the use of fossil fuels like oil and coal and increasing the use of alternative energy like solar power. However, at best, achieving this objective remains elusive. Numerous governments continue to permit oil and gas drilling, and oil-exporting nations are reluctant to abandon such a significant source of wealth accumulation. Putting resources into coal-terminated energy plants is additionally very modest for asset compelled nations assuming that the natural harm brought about by them is limited, which is much of the time what occurs, particularly in nations actually attempting to give satisfactory energy to fuel creation and take special care of the neglected energy requests.

Despite the obvious climate change solutions, political will and resources are lacking to put them into action. There were many non-renewable energy source lobbyists at the last environment debatable (COP 27) in Egypt. Despite the UAE's significant oil production, the next one is scheduled for Dubai. Poor nations must up their environmental responsibility game and increase their efforts to prevent disasters caused by climate change. However, in order to assist resource-constrained nations in becoming more environmentally conscious, organizations like the IPCC need to increase their pressure on industrialized nations with historically high emission levels. 

In addition, the IPCC and other relevant international environmental organizations must consistently press wealthy industrialized nations to compensate poorer nations, like Pakistan, that have incurred significant "losses and damages" as a result of the effects of climate change that are already taking place.