Feb 28, 2022,07:09am EST|3,431 views
‘A Dire Warning About The Consequences Of Inaction’: Climate Change Worse Than Expected, UN Report Finds
Robert Hart
Forbes Staff
Business
Topline
Human-driven climate change is already causing widespread devastation and the world has a “brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future,” according to the latest assessment of climate science by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published Monday, that builds on the group’s landmark report conclusively linking human activity and climate change.
Key Facts
The report found that the world is likely to reach 1.5C of warming within the next 20 years, even in the best-case scenario of deep emissions cuts and the effects will be more severe than previous estimates.
At current levels, climate change caused by human action has already led to widespread, dangerous and possibly irreversible damage including water shortages, extreme heat, melting ice caps and glaciers, wildfires and flooding, the IPCC panel warned.
Some 3.3 billion people—around half the global population—live in areas classed as “highly vulnerable” to climate change, the group said, and millions already face food and water shortages due to climate change.
The changing climate is already driving mass die-offs in species of corals and trees, the group warned, and up to 14% of land species will likely face a high risk of extinction by 1.5C warming.
While human society can adapt to climate change, current efforts are fragmented and uneven, especially among the world’s poorest and the authors said “ambitious, accelerated action” is needed to mitigate loss of life and environment.
Though most resources are devoted towards adaptation, the authors caution it can only “mitigate within limits,” urging concerted action alongside rapid and deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.
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