‘Crisis moment,’ Sir David Attenborough warns on climate change

In an interview to BBC News, renowned naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough warned about the climate change, deeming it as "crisis moment."

The interview came following the BBC's initiative of launching a year of special coverage on the subject of climate change.

"The moment of crisis has come, we have been putting things off for year after year," said Sir David in efforts to tackle climate change.

"As I speak, south-east Australia is on fire. Why? Because the temperatures of the Earth are increasing," he said.

He told the BBC it was "palpable nonsense" for some politicians and commentators to suggest that the Australian fires were nothing to do with the world becoming warmer.

"We know perfectly well," he said, that human activity is behind the heating of the planet.

Sir David's delineation of "the moment of crisis"

Sir David highlighted that while climate scientists are becoming more clear about the need for a rapid response, the pace of international negotiations is grindingly slow.

The most recent talks - in Madrid last month, were branded a disappointment by the UN Secretary-General, the British government and others. Decisions on key issues were put off and several countries including Australia and Brazil were accused of trying to dodge their commitments.

"We have to realise that this is not playing games. This is not just having a nice little debate, arguments and then coming away with a compromise," Attenborough remarked.

"This is an urgent problem that has to be solved. What is more, we know how to do it - that is the paradoxical thing, that we are refusing to take steps that we know have to be taken."

The step that needs to be taken

In 2018, the United Nations (UN) climate science panel spelled out how the world could have a reasonable chance of avoiding the most dangerous temperature rises in future.

It said that emissions of the gases heating the planet - from power stations and factories, vehicles and agriculture - should be almost halved by 2030.

The release of those gases is still increasing rather than falling; and the key gas, carbon dioxide, is now in the atmosphere at a level far above anything experienced in human history.

As Sir David put it: "Every year that passes, makes those steps more and more difficult to achieve."

What makes this year paramount for climate awareness

This year is seen as a vital opportunity to turn the tide on climate change.

The United Kingdom is hosting a crucial UN summit, COP26, in Glasgow in November.

Since the current pledges of the governments worldwide do not go nearly far enough. Ahead of the gathering, many governments are coming under pressure to toughen their targets for cutting emissions.

Assuming that the promises made will be delivered, albeit, there is no guarantee of that; there could still be a rise in the global average temperature of more than 3C by the end of the century, compared to pre-industrial levels.

The latest assessment by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) lays bare the dangers of that.

It suggests that a rise of anything above 1.5C would mean that coastal flooding, heatwaves and damage to coral reefs would become more severe. Latest figures show that the world has already warmed by just over 1C.

While most political attention will be on climate change, 2020 is also seen as potentially important for halting the damage human activities did on the ecosystems.

"We actually depend upon the natural world for every breath of air we take and every mouthful of food that we eat," Sir David bluntly elucidated.