NST Leader: A 2°C warmer Earth?

New Straits Times

2 days ago

If you are wondering why we are being "baked" by heat, even inside our homes, the answer is in the report published last Monday by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO): the Earth is heating up like never before "primarily due to the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide reaching the highest level in 800,000 years".
Canada is burning, with 166 fires reported to be sweeping across the country. Towns and cities are being smoked out by the wildfires.
Some parts of France, Spain and Portugal are also experiencing record-breaking temperatures.
Newspaper headlines sound the same alarm: unusually heavy rainfall causes floods and landslides in China, thunderstorms and tornadoes batter the United States Midwest and exceptional dry weather hits northern Europe.
WMO warns that the 1.5°C increase above pre-industrial levels recorded last year could become more common.
In fact, the report issues an even more ominous alarm: the global temperature could near the 2°C mark in the next five years, meaning the world has to be prepared for droughts, floods, forest fires and rising sea levels.
Sadly, the international community, especially the rich countries, is not doing enough to reduce emissions or to adequately fund climate action.
The plea of emerging economies, especially island states that face being swallowed by the rising sea, has been ignored from one COP to another.
If previous climate change conferences were about declaring net-zero emissions by this or that year, this year — the year of COP30 — may not see countries chasing zero emissions or even quarrelling about energy transition.
On the contrary, some developed countries will be increasing their investments in oil, gas and coal projects. In fact, they are already deep in it. Deloitte's "2025 Oil and Gas Outlook" says over the last four years, the industry has increased its capital expenditure by 53 per cent while the net profit has risen by 16 per cent.
Fossil fuels paid good dividends, too: globally the industry distributed nearly US$213 billion to shareholders and US$136 billion in buybacks between January and mid-November 2024.
Oilfield services companies, too, the report discloses, recorded the best performance in 2023 and 2024, beating a 34-year record. Little wonder that emissions continue to trump renewable energy.
To be fair, renewable energy sources aren't ignored. The Climate Council, Australia's independent climate organisation, lists 11 countries that are leading the charge on renewable energy.
Costa Rica has been producing 98 per cent of its electricity from renewables for the past seven years.
Uruguay has similarly been generating about 98 per cent of its electricity from renewables for several years.
Iceland, the land of fire and ice, uses a range of renewable resources, notably geothermal energy, to heat nine out of 10 homes.
The list goes on, but 11 out of 198 countries means more must join the list. Some of these additional countries are fossil fuel producers investing in carbon capture, essentially capturing and storing the emissions produced by their oil and gas operations.
A few are using stored emissions to produce more hydrocarbons. This goes against the grain of energy transition. The whole idea is to reduce carbon emissions, not to use it to produce more. A warm welcome to an unliveable world?