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What the latest UN climate report says about our future — and why it’s not too late

The logo of the United Nations is seen in the General Assembly hall before heads of state begin to speak at the United Nations headquarters during the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The logo of the United Nations is seen in the General Assembly hall before heads of state begin to speak at the United Nations headquarters during the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

A big story has been lurking in the background of all the news of the last few weeks – climate change. Last week the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest report: “Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.”

Here’s how UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres put it:

Today’s IPCC report is an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership. With fact upon fact, this report reveals how people and the planet are getting clobbered by climate change. Nearly half of humanity is living in the danger zone – now.  Many ecosystems are at the point of no return – now. Unchecked carbon pollution is forcing the world’s most vulnerable on a frog march to destruction – now. The facts are undeniable. This abdication of leadership is criminal.

But one thing the report also makes clear? It’s not too late.

Copyright 2022 WAMU 88.5

Amanda Williams