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
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