Nearly half of the world's population is highly vulnerable to climate change, and rising global temperatures bring dire threats, such as floods, heat-related injuries, water scarcity, and hunger.
The UN body that recruits hundreds of scientists from across the globe to summarize years of research on the climate crisis released a major report on Monday.
Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, said at a Monday press conference that they were in an emergency.
She said that climate change wasn't ready to pounce and that it was already upon us.
The planet has warmed by 1.1 degrees Celsius due to human-caused emissions. The report shows how 1.5 degrees of warming could change our physical health, food and water supply, and the survival of animal species.
More than 1 billion people in low-lying coastal cities and small islands will be at risk of climate hazard from sea-level rise.
Under 1.5 degrees of global warming, children ages 10 and younger as of 2020 could experience a four-fold increase in extreme weather events.
By the end of the century, the percentage of people exposed to deadly heat stress could increase from 30 percent to 76 percent.
Between 800 million and 3 billion people could experience chronic water scarcity due to the effects of global warming. If global temperatures rise 4 degrees, that figure could go up to 4 billion people.
Hunger will affect 8 million to 80 million people by the year 2050. Up to 183 million people in low-income countries could become undernourished under a high-warming scenario.
Under 2 degrees of warming, up to 18 percent of all land species will be at high risk of extinction. Half of our plant and animal species are at risk under 4 degrees of warming.
The second part of the assessment was released on Monday. Physical changes to the planet were the focus of the first portion. The report looks at how those changes will affect humans and the environment.
Some climate outcomes are preventable. The portion of the report found that glaciers will continue to melt and seas will continue to rise for hundreds or thousands of years.
The co-chair of the report said at the press conference that the world we live in today is not going to be the world we live in 20 years from now.
Governments and industries have taken measures to adapt to their new climates. The agricultural sector is improving irrigation practices to prepare for water scarcity. Farmers in West Africa are planting crops that are more resistant to the weather.
The report concludes that adaptation is not enough to protect from the onslaught of extreme weather, rising oceans, and food and water shortages.
Wetlands should be restored along flood plains to absorb floodwaters and trees should be planted along rivers to shade them from drying up. Diversification of crops and livestock may be a way for farmers to not be dependent on a single food source.
Adding green space to rooftops and walls can help cool temperatures. Extreme heat can be mitigated by parks and ponds. In the face of extreme weather, a diverse array of renewable-energy sources, like wind, solar, and hydroelectric power, can support rural populations.
The tricky thing is that there is no silver bullet. David Dodman, a lead author of the report and director of human settlements at the International Institute for Environment and Development, told Insider that there is no one action that will solve everything.
Governments and industries can reduce future human suffering by cutting their greenhouse-gas emissions now, since every half-degree of global temperature rise carries major consequences.
There is little time to waste.
The world is currently underprepared for the impacts of climate change, according to the authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
At higher levels of warming, the effectiveness of most land- and water-based adaptation options starts declining and the extent of residual risks increases.
If global temperatures rise above 2 degrees of warming, low-lying coastal cities and mountain areas may not be able to support human life.
Changes in temperature, sea level, and food or water supply are already forcing people to relocate.
More people move from rural areas to cities during a dry spell. Some Alaskan communities are making relocation plans because of flooding. The report states that migration is being driven in parts of South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.
The authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expect more communities to migrate as ice melt affects their ability to live and hunt.
Hundreds of millions of people will be at risk of climate-related displacement by the second half of the 21st century, according to a report.
There is concern over climate gentrification, where safer locations that used to be home to lower-income groups in cities become more desirable because of their perceived safety from climate risks and therefore the regional inhabitants begin to be priced out.
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