U.N. climate change warning is 'most extreme' ever, Sask. expert says
A dire climate change report from the United Nations isn't surprising for University of Saskatchewan professor John Pomeroy.
“For some time now that there is simply an unequivocal influence of human emissions on changing the climate and increasing the extremes of severe weather and water conditions such as droughts and floods,” said Pomeroy.
Pomneroy serves as the director for the Global Water Futures Program and is Canada Research Chair in Water Resources and Climate Change.
The report shows Earth is getting so hot that temperatures in about a decade will probably exceed a level of warming that world leaders have sought to prevent.
Pomeroy says the river is showing the effect of the warming trend.
“The flows of the South Saskatchewan river through Saskatoon have reached as low as permissible this summer.”
According to Pomeroy the drop in level is due to low runoff from the southern Rockies because of high water use to for irrigation and municipal use in Alberta.
“We've got a situation where Gardener Dam levels are dropping, rather than rising as we'd expect in the summertime,” said Pomeroy.
The authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which calls climate change clearly human-caused and "unequivocal," makes more precise and warmer forecasts for the 21st century than it did last time it was issued in 2013.
Each of five scenarios for the future, based on how much carbon emissions are cut, passes the more stringent of two thresholds set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
World leaders agreed then to try to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Under each scenario, the report said, the world will cross the 1.5-degree warming mark in the 2030s, earlier than some past predictions.
“This is the most extreme warning ever issued by the United Nations on climate change, and it's something we have to act upon right now,” Pomeroy told CTV News.
Pomeroy has recommendations for people who want to do their part to prevent climate change:
- Reducing one’s greenhouse gases. Pomeroy explains you can do this by insulating your home better and going to a smaller vehicle as well as not idling.
- Make environmentally conscious consumer choices which can help reduced greenhouse gas in terms of purchases.
- Making sure the different levels of government have the legal framework and regulatory framework to reduce gases.
--With Associated Press files.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6972801.1721660708!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
WATCH LIVE 'We failed,' says Secret Service director grilled on Trump assassination attempt
The director of the Secret Service says the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump was the agency's 'most significant operational failure' in decades.
Hollywood reacts to Joe Biden exiting the U.S. presidential race
Hollywood was quick to react to the news that U.S. President Joe Biden was ending his bid for re-election and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.
What to know about the Canadian ties of Kamala Harris, Biden's choice for successor
U.S. President Joe Biden is stepping aside as the Democratic candidate in that country's November election and throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris -- a Montreal-area high school graduate who spent several years in the city.
Prince George is 11 -- see his birthday photo
Prince George has turned 11, and as per tradition his proud parents have released an official portrait to mark the occasion.
Israel orders evacuation of part of Gaza humanitarian zone as war's toll passes 39,000 Palestinians
The Israeli military ordered the evacuation Monday of part of a crowded area in the Gaza Strip it had designated a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants there.
Wildfire forces evacuation of B.C.'s Barkerville gold rush heritage site
Visitors have been told to avoid B.C.'s historic Barkerville gold rush town, which is among several areas in the province's Cariboo region under evacuation orders due to the massive Antler Creek wildfire.
LeBron James to be Team USA's male flag bearer for Olympic Opening Ceremony
NBA legend LeBron James has been selected as Team USA’s male flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games.
The pilot who died in crash after releasing skydivers near Niagara Falls has been identified
Officials on Sunday released the name of a pilot who died in a skydiving flight after her passengers jumped from the aircraft near the Niagara Falls.
Air Canada cuts 2024 forecast amid tough competition in international markets
Air Canada is lowering its 2024 forecast as it grapples with tough competition in international markets and its planes aren't as full as it anticipated during the second half of the year.