General News
UN report: Humans are changing the climate at ‘unprecedented’ rate
An alarming report by a UN scientific panel called changes to the climate “unprecedented,” said it is “unequivocal” humans are to blame, and laid out the case for drastic cuts to emissions in order to hold the global temperature to under the limits set by the 2015 Paris Agreement.
“The scale of recent changes across the climate system as a whole and the present state of many aspects of the climate system are unprecedented over many centuries to many thousands of years,” said the report issued on Monday by the Geneva-based Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The authors write that, given the available evidence, they have “high confidence” that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were higher in 2019 than at any point in a least 2 million years, while the global surface temperature has “increased faster since 1970 than in any other 50-year period over at least the last 2,000 years.”
The report was compiled by 234 experts from 66 countries and is the most comprehensive to be released by the UN panel since 2013.
The IPCC cites other historic human-driven climate trends, including that annual average Arctic sea ice between 2011 and 2020 was the lowest since 1850 and the global sea level has “risen faster since 1900 than over any preceding century in at least the last 3,000 years.”
Human influence is “very likely the main driver” of the retreat of glaciers across the globe over the past three decades, the melting of Greenland’s mammoth ice sheet, and the decrease in spring snow cover in North America.
“The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said upon the report’s release.
“This report must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet. If we combine forces now, we can avert climate catastrophe.”
The increase in the global average temperature will exceed the threshold laid out in the Paris Agreement “unless deep reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades,” a major UN climate report projected.
In the 2015 Paris climate accord, nations set a target of staying below 2 degrees Celsius, and preferably to 1.5 degrees, above pre-industrial levels.
If not, the consensus is that extreme weather, including droughts and flooding, will become even more common, sea levels will rise, Arctic ice will diminish, and many plants and animals will be unable to adapt.
The IPCC report suggested limiting the temperature rise to those levels would require urgent, and drastic, action.
“Global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least the mid-century under all emissions scenarios considered,” the IPCC wrote, referring to new climate model simulations that evaluate the impact of various rates of future annual emissions, from very high to very low.
Under the very highest emissions scenario, the global temperature was modelled to rise as much as 5.7 degrees by the end of the century. Under the very lowest emissions scenario the number could be kept to between 1 and 1.8 degrees by 2100 compared to pre-industrial levels.
“Global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius and 2 degrees Celsius will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades,” the scientists wrote.
Human action has been more tightly linked to climate change in each of the previous five IPCC assessments.
Although those earlier assessments set off alarm bells among environmental campaigners and in some corridors of power, the world has continued to fall behind on its climate goals.
But a slew of recent disasters has once again underscored the urgency of the crisis, from the wildfires and heatwaves scorching southern Europe and North America’s west, to widespread flooding in China and Germany.
The sixth assessment will be delivered in parts through 2022.
The second part of this IPCC assessment will deal with impacts, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change, while the third looks at mitigation efforts. A final document synthesizing the three earlier efforts will then be released at some point next year.
At a solemn ordination service in Abuja, senior church leaders have called on pastors to make the well-being of their congregations a top priority, following the example of Jesus Christ.
Speaking during the priesthood ordination and installation of a Sub Dean at the Cathedral Church of Advent, Life Camp, Abuja, the retired Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Okene, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Ajulo, described pastors as shepherds charged with the care of their flock. He urged them to shun worldly distractions and focus on meeting the spiritual and material needs of their members.
Bishop Ajulo also encouraged the newly ordained priests to remain faithful to their calling by teaching God’s word without compromise.
In his charge, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Henry Ndukuba, urged the new clergy to preach the undiluted gospel and foster religious harmony wherever they serve. He expressed confidence that their new roles would help promote peace and unity in society.
The service also featured prayers for national leaders and divine intervention in addressing the current global economic challenges.
In a dramatic show of faith and patriotism, over 1,000 fiery prayer warriors from across Nigeria will descend on Ilorin, Kwara State, this Saturday, lifting their voices in intense intercession for President Bola Tinubu’s success and Nigeria’s survival in the face of biting economic woes and mounting insecurity.
The spiritual siege, themed “Walking in Domini”, is the maiden convention of the Organisation of African Instituted Churches (OAIC), with its Kwara State Chairman, Evangelist Thomas Adeboye, vowing that “heaven will hear and respond to Nigeria’s cry.”
Aside from marathon prayers, the gathering will roll out free medical outreach to locals across Kwara’s LGAs, a gesture aimed at touching both body and soul.
Adeboye, lamenting Nigeria’s “troubling economic and security realities”, called for a nationwide prayer uprising, insisting that Tinubu has shown the will to revive the nation but needs massive divine backing to succeed.
“Banditry, a collapsing economy, and political tension demand we seek God’s face like never before,” he declared. “We will storm heaven for wisdom for the President and governors to steer Nigeria to safety.”
The convention will also feature awards to distinguished personalities, soul-lifting worship, fiery sermons, and unity-driven lectures—all capped with thunderous prayers for Nigeria’s redemption.
Adeboye urged the President to ensure every policy has “a human face,” stressing that Nigerians must not only endure but also enjoy the fruits of governance.
With the OAIC promising to reaffirm believers’ authority in Christ and rally spiritual boldness in the face of national challenges, Ilorin is set to become the epicentre of a powerful spiritual warfare for Nigeria’s destiny.
…Church leaders accuse Welsh counterparts of “spiritual decadence” and “abandonment of faith”
The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has issued a forceful condemnation of the election of Rt. Rev. Cherry Vann, an openly lesbian cleric, as the Archbishop of Wales. The move is the latest in a series of developments that have deepened divisions within the global Anglican Communion over sexuality and doctrine.
In a statement from Primate The Most Rev’d Henry Ndukuba, the church denounced the election as a “serious departure from biblical teaching” and a sign of “spiritual decadence” and “an outright abandonment of the faith once delivered to the saints.”
Archbishop Ndukuba warned that Bishop Vann’s elevation compromises the Anglican Church’s global mission and could obstruct evangelism. He compared the situation to the controversial tenure of Most Rev. Katherine Jefferts Schori, former Presiding Bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church, who also faced intense criticism from conservative Anglicans for her progressive views.
The Primate accused Bishop Vann of being complicit in the “ongoing crisis” around same-sex issues, stating that the election is a “clear revelation that many who claim to be members of the body of Christ cannot endure sound doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:3–4).
The Church of Nigeria called on Anglicans worldwide to reject “rebels” and “apostates” and to instead support conservative bodies like the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON).
“The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) condemns, unequivocally rejects, and will not recognize the election of Rt. Rev. Cherry Vann as Archbishop of Wales,” Ndukuba declared. He concluded with a solemn warning that without repentance, the Church in Wales risks losing “complete relevance” and its leaders will face judgment.
Clergy Urged To Put Members’ Welfare Above All Else
At a solemn ordination service in Abuja, senior church leaders have called on pastors to make the well-being of their...
1,000 Prayer Warriors Storm Ilorin for Tinubu, Nation’s Deliverance
In a dramatic show of faith and patriotism, over 1,000 fiery prayer warriors from across Nigeria will descend on Ilorin,...
Kumuyi Warns Against Succession Pressure in Deeper Life Church
General Superintendent of Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor William Kumuyi, has cautioned members against agitating over who will succeed him,...
“Victory Is Not By Strength Alone”: Pastor Adeboye Reveals His Boxing Past And Shares Timeless Life Lessons
“Victory Is Not By Strength Alone”: Pastor Adeboye Reveals His Boxing Past And Shares Timeless Life Lessons In an unexpected...
2025 Annual Conference Camp of the Baptist Girls Auxiliary Begins in Abuja
The FCT Baptist Girls Auxiliary (GA), under the auspices of the Baptist Women’s Missionary Union (WMU), will kick off its...