Rising global temperatures bring serious threats, such as floods, heat-related injuries, water scarcity and famine, leaving 3.6 billion people – almost half the world’s population – very vulnerable to climate change.
That’s according to a major report, released Monday, from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is the agency of the United Nations that employs hundreds of scientists globally to summarize years of research on the climate crisis.
“We are in a state of emergency before a disaster,” Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, said. “Climate change isn’t lurking around ready to strike, it’s happened to us, raining down on billions of people.”
Human-caused emissions have warmed the planet by 1.1 degrees Celsius over the past 170 years. Research on how warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius or more can dramatically alter people’s physical health, food and water supplies, the report said. With that comes the availability of safe places to live and the survival of animals.
A woman cools off with a misting fan during a scorching heat wave at the Australian Open tennis tournament venue in Melbourne, January 15, 2014.
By 2050, more than 1 billion people in low-lying coastal cities and islets will be exposed to climate risk from sea-level rise.
If global warming is below 1.5 degrees Celsius, children 10 years old and younger by 2020 could experience extreme weather events nearly quadrupling by 2100.
The proportion of people exposed to deadly heat waves (heatstroke) could increase from 30% to 76% by the end of this century.
With global warming below 2 degrees, between 800 million and 3 billion people could experience chronic water scarcity due to drought. That number could reach 4 billion people if the global temperature rises by 4 degrees.
Eight million to 80 million people will be undernourished by 2050. Under an increasing warming scenario, an additional 183 million people in low-income countries could be undernourished as a result of climate change.
If the earth warms below 2 degrees, up to 18% of land species are at high risk of extinction by 2100. If warming is below 4 degrees, half of our plant and animal species could be threatened .
The report released on Monday is the second in a series of six assessment reports by the IPCC. The first part, released last year, focused on physical changes to the planet. The new report assesses how those changes will impact people and ecosystems.
While some of these catastrophic outcomes are preventable, others become very difficult to correct. Last year’s portion of the IPCC report found that glaciers will continue to melt and sea levels will continue to rise for hundreds or thousands of years.
“The world we live in today won’t be the world we live in in 5 years, 10 years or even 20 years”Debra Roberts, co-author of the IPCC report, said at the press conference. “We must be much more vigilant about our actions.”
How can the world adapt?
A soybean plantation affected by drought in Espumoso, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, on January 10, 2022.
Government and industry have taken a number of measures to adapt to the new climate and prepare for the impacts to come. For example, the agricultural sector is widely improving irrigation practices to prepare for global water scarcity. And in some regions like West Africa, farmers are growing more drought-tolerant crops.
But, the IPCC report concludes that these changes are not enough to protect ecosystems and people from the onslaught of extreme weather, with rising oceans and food and water shortages.
The report recommends restoring wetlands along floodplains to absorb floodwaters, and planting trees along rivers to provide shade and prevent them from drying out. Farmers may also consider diversifying crops and livestock so as not to depend on a single food source. Adding green space to rooftops and walls in cities can help lower temperatures and reduce stormwater runoff. Parks and ponds can help mitigate extreme heat in urban areas. And a range of renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and hydroelectricity, can help rural residents cope with extreme weather.
“The difficult thing is that there is no ‘silver bullet’. There is no single action that can solve everything.” David Dodman, lead author of the report said.
People wade through floodwaters caused by Tropical Storm Harvey in Beaumont Place in Houston, Texas August 28, 2017.
Because every time the global temperature rises by half a degree, they bring about major consequences. Governments and industries can dramatically reduce future human suffering and ecosystem collapse by cutting greenhouse gas emissions now.
But, it also means there’s very little time to waste.
“The world is currently unprepared for the impacts of climate change to come, especially when it comes to increases above 1.5 degrees Celsius,” he said. The IPCC report adds. “At higher levels of warming, the effectiveness of most land and water-based adaptation options begins to decline, and the level of residual risk increases, as does the potential for unintended consequences. Future.”
Rising temperatures could cause millions of people to evacuate
A woman collects grain at a camp for migrants in Adadle district, Ethiopia’s Somali region on January 22, 2022.
If global warming exceeds 2 degrees, low-lying coastal cities and some mountainous or polar regions may find it difficult to support human life.
Changes in temperature, sea level, and food or water supplies have forced people to relocate on every continent.
For example, many people move from rural areas of Mexico into the cities during times of drought. Several communities in Alaska are planning to relocate as floods invade their homes. According to the report, drought is also driving migration in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as parts of South Asia and South America.
The IPCC authors also suggest that many Arctic communities, especially indigenous peoples, will have to migrate because melting ice impedes their ability to live and hunt.
The report also predicts that hundreds of millions of people will be at risk of climate-related displacement by the second half of the 21st century. And ultimately, people could end up paying a premium to live in places climate safety.
Refer BI
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