Paris Climate Summit: What does it mean?
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Climate change is known to be a hugely controversial issue in this world – some are believers and some are not. But whether you believe or not, this December world leaders will be meeting in Paris to discuss Earth’s climate.
The climate summit is all happening because of warnings that if greenhouse gas levels continue to rise, climate change will become catastrophic and irreversible. It would mean that we have passed the threshold of a temperature rise of 2ºC by 3ºC as current emissions data has estimated that our planet is heading for a rise of about 5ºC.
5ºC would have a huge impact on the planet as we know it. With ice sheets in Antarctica already melting and air pollution in places like Linfen, China so extreme people can hardly breathe, this 5ºC rise will touch everyone. It will affect us all, especially as the temperature difference between the last ice age, the Pleistocene period, and today’s world is around 5ºC. What we view as a small change in temperature can lead to extreme differences on our planet.
Between 30th November and 11th December, the EU will commit to cut its emissions by 40% while the US will promise to cut its emissions by 26% to 28% by 2025. However, China will agree that by 2030, its emissions will undoubtedly peak. The Chinese President, Xi Jingping, will commit to reducing China’s emissions after 2030, though.
The climate summit will be a game changer when it comes to reducing climate change. It will be the deciding factor on how 190 countries on Earth will do their bit to stop drastic climate change before it’s all too late.