Impact of climate change on humanity

Climate change refers to the long-term changes in global temperatures and other characteristics of the atmosphere.

Highlights of a landmark Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Draft report on the effects of a warming planet on people…

Climate change refers to the long-term changes in global temperatures and other characteristics of the atmosphere. Climate has changed throughout Earth’s long history, but this time it’s different. Human activity is causing worldwide temperatures to rise higher and faster than any time we know of in the past.

---

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a group of scientists chosen by governments and other large groups from around the world who study the way that humans are making the Earth heat up unnaturally. The group was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), two organizations of the United Nations. The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President of the United States Al Gore who won for working on the same problems.

 Climate change: the impact

 Food and water

Humanitarian assistance:  Around 166 m people in Africa and Central America needed aid (2015-2019) due to climate-related food emergencies

Hunger: Between 8 and 80 mn more people at risk by  2050

Undernourished: Some 1.4 m more children with severe stunting in Africa due to climate change in 2050.

Crop production: 4-10% drop globally in last 30 years

Marine fisheries: 40-70% drop in catch potential for tropical regions under high emissions

Wild fish populations: 4.1% drop in maximum sustainable yield between 1930 and 2010, some regions at 15-35% losses

Diseases

Dengue fever: 2.25 b more people at risk across Asia, Europe and Africa under high emissions scenarios

Vector-borne diseases: Half the world’s population at risk of dengue, yellow fever and Zika virus by 2050

Extreme Weather

Severe heat: 1.7 b more people exposed, and 420  million people subjected to

Heat waves, subject to temperature increases from  1.5oC to 2oC

Deadly heat: Hundreds of millions of city dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa and South/

Southeast Asia affected by at least 30days of “deadly heat” per year  by 2080

Physical work capacity: Up to 250 lost work days/year by 2100, in much of South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, parts of Central/South  America

Flood displacement: 2.7 m people displaced annually in the future

Flooding: At 15oC warming, 100-200% increase in population affected by floods for Colombia,Brazil and Argentina, 300% for Ecuador, 400% for Peru

Water scarcity due to severe droughts: At 2oC warming, over 400 m more

people living in urban areas exposed

Other impacts

Water stress: At 2.7oC warming: 122 m people affected in Mesoamerica,

28 m in Brazil, 31 m in rest of South America.

Internal migration: Six-fold increase between 2020 and 2050

Natural disasters: Some 12.8 m displaced yearly by natural disasters such as storms and floods since 2008

---

Now you can get handpicked stories from Telangana Today on Telegram everyday. Click the link to subscribe.
Click to follow Telangana Today Facebook page and Twitter .

---