We have 12 years left to act

This week saw the release of the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report is the most stark to date, noting that humanity sits at the edge of a precipe beyond which lies the destruction of our civilisation.

The report has made headlines for giving an estimate of until 2030 to ward off some of the most extreme affects of climate change, by limiting warming since the preindustrial period to 1.5C and not the 2.0C or above that we are on course to reach. At 2.0C and above the long term future of human civilisation looks extremely bleak, with the warmer regions of the world likely to be made uninhabitable.

By 2100 an even more apocalyptic vision emerges, with humanity on course to deliver 3.0C and above of warming, although there is evidence that so called “feedback loops” may  push warming beyond this level. At such a period the temperate regions will be made a challenge to survive in, while much of Africa, the Middle East and Asia will be besieged by floods, water shortages and crop failure with obvious geopolitical implications.

For the renewables sector the progress of the last ten years has been immense, and the UK in particular has seen considerable developments in offshore wind technology.

For the planet as a whole the IPCC report is a reminder of the narrow timeline we have to avert destruction and to maintain some semblance of a civilised existence free of constant death and destruction. Seeing the muted coverage of the IPCC report has me considered that the grave implications of our current trajectory are little understood outside environmental and climate change focused groups.

In the event that large scale change does not take place in the next ten years we will have to prepare for an effective meltdown of much of what we now take for granted in terms of access to clean water, food for several billion and so on. Technology in space colonisation is nowhere near advanced enough to move billions of people to other planets while geoengineering is still in the nascent phase.

The terrible destruction humanity has inflicted upon the earth and the ecosystem that we depend on for life may result in a horrific pushback that will have implications beyond even my wildest nightmares.