Abstract

Τhere ιs overwhelming scientific evidence that anthropogenic activities, especially burning fossil fuels (coal, petroleum, natural gas), are leading to increased levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the Earth’s atmosphere. This process amplifies global warming and has direct impact on climate change. After the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century humans increased substantially energy consumption by fossil fuels and as a consequence GHGs increased exponentially. Electricity, heating and transport are responsible for73% of GHG emissions, industrial processes 5%, agriculture, forestry and land use 18%, and waste 3%. Earth’s surface and ocean temperature increased leading to increased extreme weather events. Also, deforestation intensified with substantial negative effects. Measurements showed that 2011-2020 was the warmest decade recorded, with global average temperature reaching 1.1°C (2019) above pre-industrial levels.  Human-induced global warming is presently increasing at a rate of 0.2°C per decade. For this reason, the international community has recognized the need to keep warming well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit it even further to 1.5°C. Scientists use various models to project the future increases of global temperature in relation to GHG emissions. The International United Nations Climate Agreement Conventions are taking place every year with 200 countries across the globe adopting historic decisions to cut emissions at global scale for the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The most prominent was the Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris in December 2015 and the Glasgow COP26 (2021). All countries publicly outlined what their post-2020 climate actions they intended to take under the new international agreement, known as their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions. According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), changes in many extreme weather and climate events have been observed since around 1950.Experts on climate change suggest that extreme weather events are now more severe and frequent than before. Rising sea levels also is another threat to human communities in coastal areas. Asia and the Pacific region have experienced relentless and unpredictable climate-related disasters in 2021, severely affecting more than 57 million people during the peak of the global pandemic. This review presents some of the most important findings and scientific reports on global warming and related problems of climate change. It is clear evidence that extreme weather events in the future, unless international efforts are undertaken to reduce fossil fuel and emissions..

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