A United Nations report raises concern about the global situation:

“The red symbol of humanity,” was the decision when the United Nations climate report was presented on Monday. It is mentioned here that human activity is responsible for the continuous and violent climate change.

The weather is severe here, and it gets worse and happens more often, sums up Asger Sortberg, Professor of Meteorology at the University of Bergen.

Floods, rain and fires

Sortberg has been the consulting editor for the severe weather chapter, and has worked on the IPCC report for the past three years.

The conclusion is that large parts of the world have already noticed an increase in extreme weather. Which type depends on where you are on the globe. But drought and its impact on agriculture, big fires, water… If you go to Norway, there will be heavy rains, floods and landslides. More precipitation, like rain, says the meteorologist.

Currently, there is maximum rainfall, floods and landslides that will affect Norway. But if the world gets warmer, Norway will be much warmer than usual because the country is closer to the North Pole.

If the world temperature rises by four degrees, Norway will feel five or maybe six degrees. This will cause the soil to drop less moisture in the summer as it gets warmer and evaporates more. It is one of the components needed to make a strong fire. So it could be a risk, also for Norway, but it’s not yet well defined, says Sortberg.

Climate Crisis – Summer

This year’s summer, with its fierce wildfires, intense heat waves, droughts, torrential rains and floods, shows what the world has in store, according to the Climate Report.

The knowledge is very powerful and frightening and it comes back to us humans, said Eileen Hambro, director of the Norwegian Environment Agency, when the report was presented in Oslo.

Meteorologist Sortberg and other researchers who participated in the report advise politicians, voters, and everyone else to read the report and learn what scenarios we can expect — and the world at large.

– The report shows what happens if the temperature is two or four degrees. In what climate do you want your children and grandchildren to inherit? Ask a meteorologist.

Acute condition

One thing is for sure: If the world’s temperature rises by four degrees, there will be a greater increase in both drought and extreme precipitation and extreme temperatures than the world experienced this summer.

We put ourselves in a situation where we have to do very dramatic things in a short time. We have known about climate challenges for a long time. The United Nations Climate Panel presented its first report 30 years ago. If you had started at the time, you could have done something more gradually, says meteorologist Sortberg, she continues:

– We are now in an emergency situation where we have to initiate very strong measures, and it becomes difficult for people to deal with because there will be very exciting interventions.

It must be severed

For decades, world leaders and the United Nations Climate Panel have hoped to avoid a temperature rise above 1.5 degrees, which this report shows is almost impossible to achieve.

The alarm bells are deafening and the evidence is indisputable, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement, also giving the “symbol of humanity in red”.

Minister of Climate and Environmental Protection Sveinung Rotevatn (V) is concerned.

The report paints a bleak picture, but I’m glad we got a better knowledge base. The situation is tragic, with severe weather all over the world. Now more people need to do more. Don’t lose all hope. We have to deal with this, says Rottivaten.

The UN report has been worked on by several hundred researchers from around the world and will be an impartial and objective report on the world’s latest research regarding the state of the planet.

– disappointing

So the researchers who contributed to the IPCC report stress that they cannot make any assessments regarding the efforts of Norwegian or other politicians on climate action. As a meteorologist and researcher, Sortberg goes a little further:

It is disappointing that neither in Norway nor in other countries one has succeeded in starting the task of reducing greenhouse gases much sooner. He says we have a clear picture from around the world that shows climate change is underway.

Sortberg says he “sleeps really well at night” because a lot of positive things have happened in recent years.

To sit down and say what we’re doing now, means we have a chance to do something about it. We can plan and create a climate resilient society so that we can live in a climate that will be different, he says, but adds:

– This planning must begin now.