William Ripple, a distinguished professor in OSU’s College of Forestry, and postdoctoral researcher Christopher Wolf are lead authors, and 10 other U.S. and global scientists are co-authors, of the report, «Global Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency in 2022,» the authors note that 16 of the 35 planetary vital signs they use to track climate change are at record extremes.
They share new data illustrating the increasing frequency of extreme heat events, increased global loss of forest cover due to fires, and a higher prevalence of the mosquito-borne dengue virus. In addition, they note that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have reached 418 parts per million, the highest on record.
The report follows five years after the «Global Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Warning» published by Ripple and colleagues in BioScience and co-signed by more than 15,000 scientists in 184 countries.
The findings are nothing new, but they explore certain solutions and worrying signs, such as our increasing meat production, tree loss, birth rates and carbon emissions.
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Today, the world’s human population continues to increase by approximately 80 million people per year and deforestation in the Amazon is on the rise again.
Despite 40 years of major global negotiations, we have generally conducted business as usual and are essentially failing to address this crisis.
William Ripple said:
«Look at all these heat waves, fires, floods and massive storms. «The specter of climate change is at the door and it’s hitting hard.»
Thomas Newsome of the University of Sydney, and co-author of the climate emergency report says: «We urge our scientific colleagues around the world to speak out about climate change. As the Earth’s temperatures rise, the frequency or magnitude of some types of climate disasters may actually be increasing.»
The report notes that in the three decades since more than 1,700 scientists signed the original «World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity» in 1992, global greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 40%.
