A new report into the impacts of climate change on the Earth's cryosphere combines the findings of the two recent IPCC Special Reports with other studies published since. The report's conclusion? Failure to choose policies now that keep global warming below 1.5°C will result in a cascading series of disasters.
Cryosphere1.5°, Where Urgency and Ambition Meet is a report published by the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative, authored and reviewed by over 40 IPCC and other cryosphere scientists. It was launched at the COP25 in Madrid on 12 December 2019, and combines the findings of the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 ºC and the IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC), plus studies that have been published since.
Based on these combined findings, Cryosphere1.5°, Where Urgency and Ambition Meet concludes that a decision to allow temperatures to go above 1.5°C – let alone 2.0°C and beyond – will cause changes in the cryosphere that cannot be reversed and that will, in turn, change our planet in ways that have never before been seen in human history. To prevent these changes, the report stresses the need for decision-makers to take urgent action now to address emissions and keep global warming below 1.5°C.
Thank you to all in the MRI community who contributed to the IPCC SROCC, and whose work thereby also features in this important publication highlighting the plight of the Earth's cryosphere in key global policy processes.
