Editor's Pick: Climate extremes now unavoidable

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that even with the highest amount of emission cuts by countries, the world will see a 1.5-degree rise in average temperature in the next two decades. The UN body's sixth report predicts extreme weather events across the globe due to this, with India seeing much higher rainfall in the south and rising seas affecting coastal cities. The Paris agreement, the existing framework for mitigating climate change, includes commitments from most countries on limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. It also says that it is more preferable to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs), or voluntary plans for emission cuts, submitted so far by 110 of the 191 parties to the agreement, fall short of the level needed to achieve the 1.5 degrees "preferred" target. The IPCC recommendation towards this is that countries should achieve Net Zero emissions, or produce no additional greenhouse gases, by 2050, with immediate massive cuts. The "preferable" target of 1.5-degree-rise in global average temperature itself means massive climatic changes across the globe. This includes melting of the Arctic ice and Himalayan glaciers, along with heat waves in the northern hemisphere and intensification of rain in south Asia. The world is already seeing flooding in Europe and Asia along and rising temperatures triggering wildfires in north America. The Indian monsoon could be disrupted, affecting the agrarian economy, and rising sea levels could affect tens of millions long the country's coastline. Even with this level of disruption at the 1.5-degree mark, it remains to be seen whether countries with the highest emissions will step up their NDCs. The fact that there is no legal requirement for countries to meet the 1.5-degree mark at which the IPCC predicts such dire fallout is what makes the story important. The Hindu's Editorials Road ahead from Gogra: on India-China disengagement process Code red: On IPCC's warning on climate points Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. Click here Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz Which Greek island has been battling devastating wildfires since last week? 1. Lesbos 2. Crete 3. Evia 4. Rhodes To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here [logo] Editor's Pick 10 AUGUST 2021 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Climate extremes now unavoidable [Climate extremes now unavoidable] The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that even with the highest amount of emission cuts by countries, the world will see a 1.5-degree rise in average temperature in the next two decades. The UN body's sixth report [predicts extreme weather events]( across the globe due to this, with India seeing much higher rainfall in the south and rising seas affecting coastal cities. The Paris agreement, the existing framework for mitigating climate change, includes commitments from most countries on limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. It also says that it is more preferable to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs), or voluntary plans for emission cuts, submitted so far by 110 of the 191 parties to the agreement, fall short of the level needed to achieve the 1.5 degrees ["preferred" target]( The IPCC recommendation towards this is that countries should achieve Net Zero emissions, or produce no additional greenhouse gases, by 2050, with immediate massive cuts. The "preferable" target of 1.5-degree-[rise in global average temperature]( itself means massive climatic changes across the globe. This includes melting of the Arctic ice and Himalayan glaciers, along with heat waves in the northern hemisphere and intensification of rain in south Asia. The world is already seeing flooding in Europe and Asia along and rising temperatures triggering wildfires in north America. The Indian monsoon could be disrupted, affecting the agrarian economy, and rising sea levels could affect tens of millions long the country's coastline. Even with this level of disruption at the 1.5-degree mark, it remains to be seen whether countries with the highest emissions will step up their NDCs. The fact that there is no legal requirement for countries to meet the 1.5-degree mark at which the IPCC predicts such dire fallout is what makes the story important. The Hindu's Editorials [Arrow][Road ahead from Gogra: on India-China disengagement process]( [Arrow][Code red: On IPCC's warning on climate points]( [underlineimg] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. [Click here]( [underlineimg] Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz Which Greek island has been battling devastating wildfires since last week? 1. Lesbos 2. Crete 3. Evia 4. 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