The true crisis we tend to forget

During the last period, we have been bombarded with a lot of information related to the pandemic and its consequences in all areas. The virus and the economic crisis, with justified reasons, constitute the greatest concern worldwide. The state of alarm to which we have arrived as a planet is so acute that many of humanity's major problems seem to be unimportant or have passed to a second or third level.

Climate Change (Climate Crisis) derived from Global Warming, does not stop. However, many people believe that the problem is solved or that, starting from the lockdown and collapse of activities worldwide, the problem would be reversing. Unfortunately, what is happening is quite the opposite. The latest measurements in the midst of social confinement and the closure of the economy show that the problem is worsening more and more. It is worth noting that, as a result of the confinement and closure of economies, very positive consequences for the environment have been observed. Even the emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) have decreased globally.

Los indicadores relevantes para medir y monitorear el avance de esta crisis son: la concentración de CO2 en la atmósfera y el promedio de la temperatura de la superficie terrestre. Ambos indicadores, vienen experimentando alzas permanentes y cada vez, superando sus propios récords. La NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), una agencia científico-climática, informó que la concentración de CO2 en la atmosfera alcanzó un récord en mayo 2020, superando las 417 ppm. Mediciones posteriores confirman la tendencia de un incremento permanente y sistemático de este parámetro. Los niveles de CO2, observados en la atmosfera de hoy, no se veían desde hace al menos 3 millones de años atrás, en un escenario donde las temperaturas promedio superaban en aproximadamente 2°C a lo que hoy tenemos. Por su parte, la temperatura promedio de la tierra ha alcanzado nuevas marcas, empinándose por encima de 1°C por encima del promedio móvil observado entre 1951 y 1980. En el Ártico este efecto se aprecia en forma dramática por cada vez más habituales eventos de calores extremos sumados a incendios forestales más grandes, voraces y frecuentes.

Sabemos, que existe una estrecha correlación entre el aumento de CO2 en la atmosfera y el aumento de la temperatura de la tierra.

Furthermore, the outlook is not good. The latest studies and forecasts indicate that the problem will continue to accelerate and intensify progressively. So, the million-dollar question, what should we do?

Faced with this increasingly urgent and pressing reality, we must unite and align ourselves as humanity around a great common goal. To reduce, neutralize, and counteract our GHG emissions as much as possible.

In an upcoming column, we will present and analyze a series of concrete actions and tasks that humanity must undertake to face this giant and unavoidable challenge.

Sources:

La vanguardia - Indu ambiente - El Independiente - El desconcierto - NOAA- CO2 levels - Climate NASA - https://news.un.org - Our world in data - Data worldbank - CO2 earth

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