Why do extreme weather and climate events occur frequently? How to achieve the carbon peak and carbon neutral goals? The reporter conducted an interview on the occasion of World Meteorological Day
Responding to climate extremes and carbon reduction press the fast forward button (deep observation)
Our reporter Liu Yi and Sun Xiuyan
"People's Daily" (18th edition on March 24, 2021)
Core reading
President Xi Jinping made a solemn commitment to the international community at the General Debate of the 75th United Nations General Assembly to "peak carbon and carbon neutral", and announced a series of new measures for nationally determined contributions at the Climate Ambition Summit, demonstrating my country’s response to climate change. The confidence and determination to promote the responsibility of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
Faced with the challenge of climate change, mankind shares a common destiny.
The "14th Five-Year Plan" is a critical period and window period for carbon peaks.
We must focus on “mitigation” with one hand and “adaptation” with the other, to win the tough battle of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, and to achieve a harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
Since the beginning of this year, the temperature in many parts of the world has been like riding a roller coaster. The weather has "suddenly hot and cold", and record-breaking cold waves, blizzards and warm weather have occurred frequently.
Why do extreme weather and climate events occur frequently, how to deal with climate change scientifically, and how to achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality?
March 23 is World Meteorological Day. On this occasion, reporters conducted interviews on these issues.
Why does the weather go to extremes?
The root cause is global warming, increasing instability of the climate system, and "once in decades" extreme weather is becoming more and more common
"It's really warm today!" On February 21, the highest temperature at the Observatory in the southern suburbs of Beijing climbed to 25.6°C.
In the warm sun, some people took off their thick winter clothes and held them in their hands, putting on short sleeves.
Shijiazhuang 27.3℃, Zhengzhou 28.3℃, Xi’an 26.5℃, Hefei 28.7℃...Under the influence of strong heating and clear sky radiation, the temperature in most parts of my country rose rapidly from February 19 to 21, with more than 25% of the cities in the country. The (county) daily maximum temperature exceeded the historical highest value in February, which is equivalent to the temperature level in May of the year.
This kind of warm weather is in great contrast to the previous month.
From January 6 to 8, most of the central and eastern parts of my country were affected by a strong cold wave. At more than 50 national meteorological observatories in Beijing, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi and other places, the lowest temperature reached or exceeded the lowest record since the establishment of the station.
"Isn't it about global warming? How can it be so cold?" Yan Chun, a resident of Daxing District, Beijing, shouted cold as soon as he got outside.
On January 7, the lowest temperature at the Observatory in the southern suburbs of Beijing reached -19.6°C, setting the record for the coldest temperature since February 1966.
"This kind of cold, hot, and extreme weather has also appeared in other countries and regions." Zhou Bing, chief expert of climate services at the National Climate Center of the China Meteorological Administration, said that in early January, most parts of North America were obviously warmer. In some areas, the average temperature is higher than normal by more than 10℃ in the same period.
However, from February 13th to 17th, affected by the winter storm "Uri", southern Canada, most of the United States and northern Mexico encountered strong cold currents and blizzards, causing serious disasters to millions of families.
Recently, the rare strong sand and dust weather at home and abroad has hit, and the extremely cold and extremely warm weather have followed one after another. Why?
Song Lianchun, director of the National Climate Center, said: "The fundamental reason is that global warming has exacerbated the instability of the climate system. Global warming will change the global atmospheric circulation and affect the local climate through the interaction of the ocean and atmosphere, land and atmosphere. "
"The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment report pointed out that global warming has caused frequent occurrences of extreme weather and climate events such as heavy rains, floods, droughts, typhoons, high temperature and heat waves, cold waves, and sandstorms in some areas, and their intensity has increased." Song Lianchun It is said that extreme weather and climate events that have occurred once in decades or even once in a hundred years are becoming more and more common.
A wide range of extreme weather and climate events have brought serious impacts on life and production, and we must attach great importance to and strengthen prevention.
"The recent extreme weather at home and abroad has once again sounded the alarm to mankind-climate change with global warming as the main feature has brought many impacts and risks to the natural ecological environment and human economy and society. One of the most severe challenges for China.” Zhou Bing said.
What are the causes of global warming?
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are most likely the main cause.
Emission reduction is a fundamental solution, which not only improves the climate resilience of the whole society, but also slows down future climate change
What causes global warming?
The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report pointed out that since the 1950s, human activities have caused more than half of global warming.
Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are very likely to be the main cause of global warming.
"Since the Industrial Revolution, human activities have led to a substantial increase in the concentration of major greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, global carbon emissions have declined in 2020, but the pace of climate warming has not stopped, and the climate emergency is still continuing. Extreme weather and climate events such as floods, droughts, typhoons, high-temperature heat waves, and cold waves occur frequently." Song Lianchun said.
According to the climate statement recently issued by the World Meteorological Organization, the global average temperature in 2020 will be about 1.2°C higher than the pre-industrial level.
2011-2020 is the warmest 10 years since meteorological records.
The six warmest years are from 2015 to 2020.
The scientific response to climate change requires both “adaptation” and “mitigation”.
"Adaptation to climate change is an urgent response." Song Lianchun said that my country's climate conditions are complex and the ecological environment is fragile as a whole. Generally speaking, it is a country vulnerable to climate change. It must be adjusted and changed through adaptation methods to bring about the effects of climate change. The negative impact is minimized.
Strengthening the early monitoring, early warning and assessment of climate change risks, improving the climate resilience of the whole society, and taking full account of climate change factors in strategic planning and policy implementation are realistic and urgent tasks.
"While adapting to climate change, we must also reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow down future climate change. This is a permanent solution." Song Lianchun said.
The international community reached the "Paris Agreement" in 2015, which is the second legally binding global climate agreement after the "Kyoto Protocol", and has made arrangements for the global response to climate change after 2020.
The “Paris Agreement” proposes that all parties will jointly respond to climate change in the form of “independent contributions”. The goal is to control the global average temperature rise within 2°C from the pre-industrial level by the end of this century, and to control the temperature rise to 1.5°C. Work hard within.
The IPCC assessment report pointed out that in order to achieve the goal of controlling the temperature rise within 1.5℃, by 2030, global carbon dioxide emissions need to be reduced by 40%-60% compared to 2010, and the net carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 will be zero. Carbon neutral.
According to the latest report released by the United Nations Environment Programme, 127 countries and regions around the world have made carbon neutral commitments.
"If we ignore the control of greenhouse gas emissions, the global climate system will further warm up, which will cause the earth system to lose its resilience and enter the unstable state of the'hot cell earth', and the global natural ecosystem and human society will face greater climate risks." Qin Dahe, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said, “In view of the far-reaching impact and potential risks of climate change, the world urgently needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions rapidly, and further promote sustainable development through the development of low-carbon clean energy, increasing carbon sinks, and changing lifestyles. ."
How to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality?
As a responsible major country, China actively responds to climate change and unswervingly follows the path of ecological priority, green and low-carbon high-quality development
my country is an important participant, contributor, and leader in the construction of global ecological civilization, and has always attached great importance to addressing climate change.
President Xi Jinping pointed out that tackling climate change is China’s internal requirement for sustainable development, and it is also an international obligation that a responsible major country should fulfill. This is not what others want us to do, but we do it ourselves.
President Xi Jinping made a solemn commitment to the international community at the General Debate of the 75th United Nations General Assembly to "peak carbon and carbon neutral", and announced a series of new measures for nationally determined contributions at the Climate Ambition Summit, demonstrating my country’s response to climate change. The confidence and determination to promote the responsibility of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
The "14th Five-Year Plan" is a critical period and window period for carbon peaks.
The outline of the "14th Five-Year Plan" puts forward the binding targets of reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by 13.5% and reducing carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 18%, making comprehensive arrangements for actively responding to climate change.
In the first year of the "14th Five-Year Plan", all localities took active actions to promote green development.
In the 2021 local government work report, "green" and "low-carbon" have become hot words.
Guangdong proposed to improve the dual control system of energy consumption, and promote the peak of carbon emissions by region and industry; Beijing clarified the timetable and road map for carbon neutrality, and will promote energy structure adjustment and energy conservation in key areas such as transportation and construction; Zhejiang requires non-fossil energy to account for The proportion of primary energy increased to 20.8%, and the proportion of coal-fired power installed capacity dropped by 2 percentage points.
Enterprises are the mainstay of energy saving and carbon reduction.
On March 11, Three Gorges Group announced that it will strive to achieve carbon peaks in 2023 and carbon neutrality in 2040.
Prior to this, energy companies such as the State Power Investment Corporation, as well as many companies in the fields of petroleum and petrochemicals, steel, and energy conservation, have successively proposed their respective carbon peak targets.
To achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality as soon as possible has become the consensus and conscious action of more and more enterprises.
"In recent years, my country has unswervingly followed the path of high-quality development with ecological priority, green and low-carbon, and laid a solid foundation for achieving carbon peak and carbon neutral goals." said He Jiankun, deputy director of the National Climate Change Expert Committee.
"From incandescent bulbs to energy-saving tubes, and now to LED lights, lighting'shotgun-changing' in recent years has become more and more environmentally friendly." Tan Xiaojun, a resident of Pingdu City, Shandong Province, who chose lamps in the Lighting City, said with emotion.
In 2011, five ministries and commissions including the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Roadmap to Phase Out Incandescent Lamps in China". As a result, incandescent lamps have gradually withdrawn from people's vision.
Through this action, the country’s annual electricity saving is 48 billion kilowatt-hours, which is equivalent to a reduction of 48 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
In recent years, my country has implemented subsidies for energy-saving home appliances and new energy vehicles, which not only effectively stimulates green consumption, but also guides the green and low-carbon development of home appliances and automobile industries.
In 2020, sales of new energy vehicles will exceed 1.3 million units, a year-on-year increase of more than 10%.
China's promised carbon emission reduction 2020 target has been completed ahead of schedule.
The 13th Five-Year Plan requires that carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP be reduced by 17%, and non-fossil energy sources account for 15% of primary energy consumption.
Xu Huaqing, director of the National Climate Change Strategy Research and Cooperation Center, said: "During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP have been reduced by 18.8%. By the end of 2019, the proportion of non-fossil energy has increased to 15.3%. In 2020, my country The installed capacity of renewable energy power generation has reached 934 million kilowatts."
How to get more public participation?
Low-carbon education should be more pragmatic and closer, further increase awareness and participation, and promote public consumption behavior to be more friendly to nature
In response to climate change, extensive participation of the whole society is indispensable.
The survey found that the public's awareness of climate change needs to be improved.
Xu Yibing, a second-year high school student in Xicheng District, Beijing, used a questionnaire survey to understand people's understanding of climate change.
She found: “Although many people understand the basics of global warming, they don’t know that extreme weather is closely related to climate change. Many respondents are not clear about how to participate in actions to address climate change.”
So, what factors have led to the lack of public awareness?
A recent study by the Research Institute Media Merchants Laboratory showed that a certain media has 400 reports related to climate change in 2020, and the overall situation is macroscopic.
Green, development, United Nations, global, etc. are high-frequency words, and carbon emissions and greenhouse gas reduction are the core topics.
"The public's acceptance of these macro issues is limited, and everyone is more concerned about what is the relationship between climate change and'me'." Li Ying, chief expert of the Media Business Laboratory and deputy director of the Media Literacy Teaching and Research Center of Communication University of China, believes.
"It is necessary to make the public's understanding of climate change more comprehensive and accurate. More importantly, we must make the public's consumer outlook more friendly to nature, and translate these correct understandings into practical actions." Ma, Director of the Public and Environmental Research Center Jun said.
There is a homestay called "Mailang" in Xiajiang Village, Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province.
Before leaving the store, visitors can scan the QR code to know their energy consumption and ranking during their stay in the store. If the energy-saving effect is significant, they can also get discounts for staying in the store.
This event is called the "Low-Carbon Check-In Program". The participating hotels have not only improved their reputation, but also won many repeat customers.
“Being close to the public, allowing the public to have a sense of accomplishment, but also to receive tangible rewards, and effectively mobilize the enthusiasm for participation. This is the key to guiding the public to actively participate in green and low-carbon actions.” Director of China Climate Communication Project Center, School of Journalism and Communication, Guangxi University Dean Professor Zheng Baowei said.
"Simple living and participating in low-carbon initiatives, ordinary people actually have many things to do, such as CD operations, garbage sorting, energy saving and water saving, choosing green products, etc." Zheng Baowei said, the key lies in real action, day after day This is the essence of the public’s active response to climate change.