By MAEVE BRENNAN, age 9
Mentored by JENNIFER GIANGRANDE
The intensification of certain phenomena, including floods, droughts, fires and severe weather are believed to be the result of climate change. PHOTO: Marion/Pixabay
A new report produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is warning of possible consequences of global warming, a form of climate change. Global warming is an increase in Earth’s temperature that may be due to natural or human-made causes, like pollution from power plants that burn non-renewable fossil fuels. Some people still wonder: is global warming a myth or is it really happening?
The majority of climate scientists say that it is real. The intensification of certain phenomena, including floods, droughts, fires and severe weather are believed to be the result of climate change. The article, “Eight Ways Climate Change Hurts Humans” by Sarah Zielinski of Smithsonian, says the Australian government predicts by 2050, 2,000 people will die each year due to excess of heat.
However, there are other scientists, like the ones who wrote the report for the Nongovernmental Panel on Climate Change,* who do not believe that global warming is happening. The NIPCC’s report says that cold-related deaths are more numerous than warm ones, and global warming will decrease these deaths. Still, according to NASA, 97 percent of climate scientists are in agreement that climate change is happening and is likely due to human activities.
“Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change,” said Rejendra K. Pachauri, the chairman of the IPCC.
*Editors Note: the Nongovernmental Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) has come under criticism for being funded by the Heartland Institute, an American conservative and libertarian public policy think tank.
