China Offers Optimism After IPCC “Wake Up Call” on Climate Change
“Blue Monday” is the name given to the most depressing day of the year, when a miserable concoction of holiday blues and freezing cold weather makes for a grim and dreary day. Typically, this day occurs on the third Monday in January, however after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its downcast report last Monday, October 8th seems a more suitable option. The report, referred to as an “ear-splitting wake-up call” by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, offered an honest yet sobering account on the state of our planet, warning that if in the next 12 years we are unable to keep global warming at 1.5C, then climate-related poverty, heat-related deaths and the destruction of our coral reefs and ice-caps will dramatically increase. More worryingly, the report comes at a time when the world is still not united in dealing with this problem. From a potential Brazilian president who threatens to cut down more of the Amazon Rainforest, to a new Australian Prime Minister who thinks reports like this are “nonsense” and not forgetting an American President who pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement and referred to climate change as “bullshit”, the current situation is enough to make anyone dive back to bed, put their head under the covers and wish for happier times. In China, thankfully, […]
China & The World Environment Oct 16, 2018