The report is titled, Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided. The widely agreed upon goal is to keep temperatures from increasing no more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. This upper safe limit is considered to be the best way of reducing the likelihood of sea levels, acidic oceans, freshwater scarcity, diminished agricultural yields, searing heat waves, grinding droughts and other extreme weather.
However there are some prominent scientists who have argued that even 2 degrees of warming would be disastrous. We have already seen an increase of about 0.8 degrees, and even if all pollution were arrested today, there are sufficient levels of GHGs in the atmosphere to further raise temperatures by another 0.8 degrees.
"Lack of action on climate change threatens to make the world our children inherit a completely different world than we are living in today," said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim in a statement accompanying the report. "Climate change is one of the single biggest challenges facing development, and we need to assume the moral responsibility to take action on behalf of future generations, especially the poorest," he said.
We need to appreciate that the climate problems we face are not subject to linear progressions. The so called non-linear outcomes will push us towards tipping points much faster. As noted by the World Bank report:
"As global warming approaches and exceeds 2-degrees Celsius, there is a risk of triggering nonlinear tipping elements. Examples include the disintegration of the West Antarctic ice sheet leading to more rapid sea-level rise, or large-scale Amazon dieback drastically affecting ecosystems, rivers, agriculture, energy production, and livelihoods. This would further add to 21st-century global warming and impact entire continents."
© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
Related Articles
Scientist Warn Time is Running Out to Avert a Climate Catastrophe
World Banks Warning: We Need to Act Now on Climate Change (Video)
World Bank Report Warns of A 4°C World
World Resources Institute Warning About New Coal Plants
PricewaterhouseCoopers Climate Change Warning
International Renewable Energy Institute Climate Warning
Warning from the International Energy Agency: The World's Ongoing Reliance on Fossil Fuels Crushes Hopes of Averting Climate Change
World Meteorological Organization Climate Warning
UNEP Warning: We are on The Brink of a Climate Catastrophe
Comprehensive Review of the Science on Anthropogenic Climate Change
10 Charts on Climate Change
September 2012 was the Warmest in Recorded History (NOAA)
Strong Body of Evidence for a Changing Climate
American Meteorological Society Corroborates Anthropogenic Climate Change
More Scientific Support for Anthropogenic Climate Change
Science and Pernicious Ignorance of Climate Change Denial
The Fifth Global Environmental Outlook Report
A New Study Indicates We Are Reaching a Tipping Points
Environmental Tipping Points
Climate Change Science
Top Four Climate Studies of 2011
State of the Climate Global Analysis Nov 2011
Interactive Map Reveals Warmer Spring 2012
2012 is but the Latest Year Marked by Heat and Drought
Heat in the US Northeast and Drought Around the World IN 2012
Temperature Data: 1880 - 2011 (Video)
New NASA Video Graphically Illustrates that the Earth is Warming
Popular Media is Distorting the Facts about Climate
State of the Climate Global Analysis Nov 2011
Debunking CO2 Myths and The Science of Climate Change
Primer on CO2 and other GHGs
Video: Why People are Confused about the Scientific Veracity of Climate Change
Bill McKibben: Global Warming's Terrifying New Math
The Effects of Global Warming
0 comments:
Post a Comment