Earth Day 2024: Our planet requires collaborative climate solutions

Ilán Ramón, Israel's first astronaut, who perished in the Columbia space shuttle disaster in 2003, remarked while in space, "What you see from here is truly amazing. Our planet Earth is beautiful, but what's more intriguing is the thin atmosphere. I think we need to preserve it as the apple of our eye, that's how it looks." Twenty years later, we are failing to safeguard the atmosphere as Ilán had urged.

International Earth Day, celebrated annually on April 22, presents an excellent opportunity to assess the state of the planet. The year 2023 was recorded as the hottest year on record. The global average temperature increased by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.498 degrees Celsius) above the pre-industrial revolution average. This was 0.31 degrees Fahrenheit (0.17 degrees Celsius) higher than 2016, previously the warmest year. Humanity (at least this year) reached the lower threshold of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which calls on nations to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and strive to remain below a 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) global warming as to preindustrial revolution temperature levels.

Continued warming is also evident in ocean temperatures, which have reached historical highs since ocean temperature documentation began. The melting of ice caps in Antarctica and Greenland persists at an alarming rate, contributing to an average sea level rise of about half a centimeter annually. It is projected that 2024 will be even hotter, as the expected temperature rise in 2024 results from a combination of the long-term global warming trend coupled with this year's El Niño effect. The concentration of major greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continues to rise: carbon dioxide has reached a concentration of 419 parts per million (compared to 280 ppm before the industrial revolution), while methane has climbed to a concentration of 1902 parts per billion (compared to 722 ppb before the industrial revolution).

All these factors have led to record-breaking extreme events and natural disasters, such as severe storms, widespread wildfires — recall the devastating wildfires in Canada that blanketed the skies of New York with smoke and ash — powerful hurricanes, flooding like that which occurred in Libya following Hurricane Daniel, resulting in thousands of deaths, heatwaves in North America, Europe, and beyond. These events contribute to agricultural productivity losses, water scarcity for drinking and agriculture, immense property damage, and loss of life. The estimated cost of damage in 2023 in the U.S. alone was around $100 billion.

According to NOAA NCEI Director Deke Arndt, "Last year, the U.S. experienced 28 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. This surpasses 2020 — which had 22 events — for the highest number of billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. on record. The U.S. was hit with more billion-dollar disasters in 2023 than any other year on record, highlighting the increasing risks from our changing climate. Record heat waves, drought, wildfires and floods are a sobering reminder of the consequences of the long-term warming trend we’re seeing across our country."

There are solutions to this in areas such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, carbon capture, and more to reduce emissions and we must act fast and work together. There is also a need to focus efforts on building resilience and adaptation, preparing ourselves for the crisis that has already begun. All of this demands significant climate innovation, technological solutions and initiative.

Israel, having faced challenges of desertification, water scarcity, and high temperatures from its inception, has managed to develop a variety of methods and means to address the climate crisis, which could serve as a model for many countries worldwide. For example, in the water sector, Israel is considered a global leader in water conservation, wastewater treatment, desalination, and the use of saline water for irrigation. Israel effectively practices a circular water economy.

Earth Day 2024: It's almost too late. We must urgently collaborate on global climate action

Another area is food security. Israel produces more with less resources: less water and less land. Drip irrigation developed in Israel generates 50% more food with half the amount of water typically used in flood irrigation. Desert agriculture and cultivation in arid areas are another area of Israeli expertise. In recent years, we have witnessed the rise of Israel's alternative protein industry, which has enormous potential to enhance global food security. Other developing areas include carbon capture and sequestration, remote sensing, and the use of drones in agriculture, among others.

In the United States as well, big strides are being made in climate innovation, and indeed, the capabilities of Israel and the U.S. complement each other in developing climate technologies. Hence, collaboration between them can make a significant contribution to the economy, scientific research, the environment, and climate. So, as we mark another International Earth Day, let us also consider how we collaborate to save it and simultaneously contribute to our economy and human prosperity. Climate challenges cannot be solved in a vacuum of each country working on its own initiatives. If we want to bring about true change then we must work together toward finding a solution.

Ambassador Gideon Behar serves as Israel's special envoy for climate change and sustainability and oversees Israel's climate diplomacy. Ambassador Behar can be found on X: https://twitter.com/GideonBehar

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Earth Day 2024: We must unite to address climate change