The World Meteorological Organization announced that the planet may soon pass the 1.5-degree threshold in the next five years. The conclusion was made after observing the amount of heat-trapping pollution in the atmosphere and an upcoming El Niño. Shared in the WMO’s annual climate update, the prediction stated there is a 66% probability that Earth will pass 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming between now and 2027.
“A warming El Niño is expected to develop in the coming months and this will combine with human-induced climate change to push global temperatures into uncharted territory,” WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas said.
Going beyond that temperature threshold is a massive indicator that climate change must be addressed with urgency now more than ever. Passing this boundary for any length of time is expected to bring an onslaught of extreme weather conditions from record-breaking draughts to flooding. Such events will lead to the suffering of many communities that are not prepared to handle the consequences of a warmer world. As stated during the IPCC 6th Synthesis Report Conference, populations that are in vulnerable areas around the world are “15 times more likely” to lose their lives to natural disasters.
According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, 30.7 million people were displaced in 2020 by floods, windstorms, earthquakes or droughts around the world. Temperatures reaching above a 1.5 increase are predicted to lead to sea level rises which could continue displacement and force the relocation of 13 million people in just the United States alone. By 2050, it’s estimated that a global 300 million people will be vulnerable to annual flooding by 2050. Going beyond 1.5°C becomes a climate tipping point that will cause additional warming that will be beyond human control and lead to melting of arctic permafrost, destruction of the amazon rainforest and other catastrophic events.
The Best Approach for Climate Action
With these factors in consideration, it’s imperative to take climate action so damages are repaired and to prevent temperatures from reaching a point of no return. The IPCC stressed the importance of a holistic approach when it comes to climate action. This includes policy implementation to incentivize climate-smart approaches, investments in climate technology and sustainable operations, international collaboration, as well as collaboration between public and private sectors.
With respect to technology, it remains apparent that there will not be any meaningful improvement to the Earth’s climate without the execution of carbon removal on a global scale. CDR technologies that can scale while remaining cost-effective with low energy inputs along with a global transition to renewables are important tools for climate mitigation. Both responses to climate change are vital and both require unwavering support. In this regard,the implementation of technologies like Bioenergy with Carbon Capture & Storage (BECCS) at scale will shift the climate crisis to a better prognosis.
According to the IPCC, carbon removal with BECCS should scale to between 30-780 billion tonnes within the century to remain below the 1.5° climate target.
BECCS technology removes carbon from the atmosphere by utilizing industrial facilities. The emissions captured by BECCS originate from biogenic sources and are stored permanently underground through geologic sequestration. Because carbon removal plays a crucial part in preventing irreversible climate change, it’s important that the processes that remove carbon dioxide can do so in large quantities. One BECCS facility has the capacity to remove carbon emissions in the hundreds of thousands of tonnes per year, whereas other methods may only reach tens of thousands of tonnes per year. Tax credit incentives like those enacted by the Inflation Reduction Act are a step in the right direction for investing in BECCS and other CDR technologies. As recognition grows for the impact BECCS can have, it will be possible to alleviate the consequences of climate change and restore the atmosphere to its pre-industrial state.
