Check out this interesting read which points out some of the major findings in the new IPCC report. Below is a quick synopsis of the article and how it might relate to small islands like us.
This Land Is the Only Land There Is
by Robinson Meyer, August 8, 2019 in the Atlantic. Image by Brook Mitchell/Getty.
In August, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a new report called: Climate Change and Land. Most people would consider land to be deemed quite important; not only do we produce food and agriculture, mine fossil fuels and other resources, and store gigatons of CO2 in the plants and soil, but we also live here! Unfortunately as the temperature of the planet rises, since land heats twice as fast, the temperature on land masses will be double. This can create a dangerous feedback loop of higher temperatures, more evaporation, dryer land and air, longer heatwaves, and even higher temperatures.
Right now land use change accounts for a quarter of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This means that the land managed by humans actually emits greenhouse gases, most notably potent methane gas, instead of absorbing them.
With population growth expected to reach near 10 billion in the coming century, land resources will be in competition for agriculture, food, timber, construction of new cities and towns, bio-fuel and other energy sources, or even for reforestation and afforestation for climate change mitigation. Nevertheless, while not mentioned in the article, the IPCC report states that there are opportunities for synergies between climate change mitigation, adaptation and increased land productivity.
Some limitations of the article, that are very relevant to small island regions, are that it fails to mention the impacts of sea level rise, coastal erosion and storm surges on land resources. According to the IPCC report there is a high confidence within the scientific community that these impacts can cause land degradation or even land disappearance. In the Pacific islands, primarily low lying atolls, this will affect the sovereignty of these nations and may directly threaten the culture and well-being of these people.