What to know about the latest international climate report

Weather patterns are growing more extreme. This is not only experienced through events like wildfires and droughts around the globe, but also in the floods experienced right here in Detroit.

The most recent report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revealed that as our planet continues to heat up, our ecosystems are becoming more vulnerable — increasing the likelihood for widespread destruction from climatic events. Even so, the worst of climate change destruction can be avoided if the world cuts its carbon emissions in half.

“We have a narrow window and we are on the precipice of that. And that is why action now is more important than ever” — Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel, director of climate science for the Climate & Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Listen: Warnings from the most recent international climate report.

Guests

Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel is director of climate science for the Climate & Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. She says the report lays out how we are moving closer to a “dangerous world” with our monthly production of carbon emissions.

“We have a narrow window and we are on the precipice of that,” says Ekwurzel. “That is why action now is more important than ever.”

James Gignac is the Senior Midwest Energy Analyst for the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. He says the biggest threats of climate change will hit the Great Lakes and the agricultural sector hardest.

“It’s a big part of our economy ,” says Gignac, “and climate change is threatening farmers and creating disruptions in traditional planting cycles as well as flooding of crops.”