This is an attempt to summarise some key messages from the IPCC WGI SPM in haiku format, by Andy Reisinger.
Note: these haiku/sciku represent my own personal selection and perspective on the key findings presented in the Summary for Policymakers of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I, which was released on 9 August 2021. The haiku do not represent the full balance or carefully crafted wording of the original document, let alone underlying report. All credit for scientific substance is due to the authors of the report, led by co-chairs Valérie Masson-Delmotte and Panmao Zhai and head of the Technical Support Unit Anna Pirani. Any blame for scientific inaccuracies, misinterpretations and undue poetic license rests with me.
Thanks for reading and sharing!
| Relevant SPM headline, bullet(s), figure(s): | |||
| Earth to politics:
Here’s what the science tells us. Can we act now – please? |
Introduction
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| Earth is heating up,
The whole climate system: Air, ocean, land, ice. |
SPM A.1, Figure SPM.1a
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| We’ve passed 1 degree,
Which is warmer than we thought. And rising further. |
SPM A.1.2, Footnote 10, SPM B.1
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| Heat waves, heavy rain,
Droughts, cyclones: not abstract change, But painfully real. |
Figure SPM.3
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| State, scale, rate of change
In aspects and whole system: “unprecedented”. |
SPM A.2, A.2.1-A.2.4
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| Do we know why? Yes.
We’re the driving force behind Climate system change. |
SPM A.1, A.1.1, A.1.3-A.1.8, Figure SPM.1b, Figure SPM.2, SPM A.3 |
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| Human influence
on the climate system is “unequivocal”. |
SPM A.1, A1.1, A.1.3-A.1.8, Figure SPM.1b, Figure SPM.2, SPM A.3 |
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| Where are we headed?
Scenarios can show us Alternate futures. |
Box SPM.1, Figure SPM.4
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| We’ll reach 1.5
In roughly the mid-thirties. Beyond that: our choice. |
Table SPM.1, Figure SPM.8
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| Rapid and sustained
Emission cuts halt warming Within three decades. |
Box SPM.1, Table SPM.1, Figure SPM.8 |
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| Our best case reaches
1.5 degrees; exceeds; Then drops down again. |
SPM B.1.1, B.1.3, Footnotes 25, 27, Figure SPM.8
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| More than 1.5:
More heat than Homo Sapiens Has ever lived through. |
SPM A2.2
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| Air, land, and ocean.
A force-fed carbon cycle May spew back at us. |
SPM B.4, B.4.1-B.4.4, Figure SPM.7 | ||
| Ice loss, rising seas:
1 metre is a given. But When? That’s up to us. |
SPM B.5, B.5.3, B.5.4, Figure SPM.8
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| We’re not prescriptive:
We’re just saying, the future Still lies in our hands. |
SPM Box.1
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| More heat, more extremes,
Driving climate impacts: Half degrees matter. |
SPM B.2, SPM B.3, SPM C.2 Figure SPM.5, Figure SPM.6 |
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| Don’t pin your planning
On means and likely ranges: It’s the tail that stings. |
SPM C.3, C.3.1-C.3.3
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| Covid lockdowns cut
Emissions, air pollution. Warming? Not really. |
SPM D.2.1
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| A stable climate
Needs net-zero CO2: That’s simple physics. |
SPM D.1, D.1.1, Figure SPM.10
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| Removing carbon
Helps net-zero, but beware: Side-effects abound. |
SPM D.1.4, D.1.5
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| To limit warming,
Stick to a carbon budget, Cut other gases. |
SPM D.1, D.1.1, D.1.2, Table SPM.2
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| 1.5 degrees
Needs strong, sustained methane cuts, Not just CO2. |
SPM D.1, D.1.2, Table SPM.2, Figure SPM.4 |
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| Lower methane helps
Climate and air quality. That’s called a win-win. |
SPM D.2, D.2.2
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| We may not see it
For a decade, but climate Will respond to us. |
SPM D.2, D.2.3, D.2.4
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| Approved by Zoom, signed
Sealed, delivered: 9 August 2021. |
The SPM was approved, and the underlying report accepted by all member governments. Global press conference held at 10am CEST, 9 August 2021. |
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Copyright @ReisingerAndy, shared under a Global Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license.
