The authority on all things Global Warming, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warn that the 1.5C rise in global temperatures set in Paris three years ago is fast slipping out of our reach and we are in a headlong rush towards a 2C rise.
What happens if the world warms up by 2C?
Coral Reefs will be wiped out completely, we will lose 18% of insects, 16% of plants and 8% of animals, 420 million more people will be exposed to extreme heatwaves which will increase heat related deaths and diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and Lyme disease.
Desertification will result in 10% of arable land being lost and sea levels will rise by 10cm adding 10 million people to the risks of flooding.
The world has already warmed 1C since pre-industrial times and the call that we need rapid and far-reaching changes has gone unheeded for decades and under the current set of circumstances climate scientists expect the temperature rise to be 1.5C in just 12 years, in 2030.
As this report notes we are quickly running out of time but as we have waited so long to act, there are parts of the system that are already out of our hands as ever stronger hurricanes, heavier rainfall and rising sea levels are already with us to stay.
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