Climate Change Primer
What are the consequences
Summary:
Prepare for more flooding, more fires, mud slides,droughts and desertification of entire regions of our planet. Coastal cities and low laying area will be flooded as oceans rise. Millions of climate refugees will unsettle western democracies causing social/cultural tensions economic hardships and political upheaval.
Current climate change calamities
In 2015 forty five Million people in South Asia suffered from flooding. Also in that year, there were unprecedented fires (where?) In 2017 three major hurricanes swept the North America Atlantic ocean shore. Hurricane Harvey delivered a rainfall amount predicted to occur only once in 500 000 years. In 2018 1.2 Million people in Japan were evacuated as a result of flooding. Summer heatwaves occurred all around the world. There will be more major hurricanes, more forest fires, more flooding and mud slides, more heat waves, more droughts – increasing in intensity and frequency every year.
It is already happening!
In 2011 one million Syrian refugees flooded Europe. Drought caused by climate change and the civil war were the main reasons for the Syrian refugees migration to Europe. The refugees tested the limits of tolerance of European nations, gave rise to new populist political parties ( Hungary, Austria, Switzerland) and added financial and humanitarian burden on Europe nations. That was a taste of what is to come! UN and the World Bank estimate tens of millions of people to become climate refugees by 2050. Political instability; possibly the rise of undemocratic governments, cultural and social changes, economic burden and hardship will ensue.
The next 80 years timeline
If we implement the Paris accord on climate change we will limit the warming to +3C by the end of this century (No, it will not stop the warming, but tame it somewhat; at the moment no nation is delivering on its Paris accord commitment). This 'limited' temperature rise will cause the collapse of planet ice sheets, permanent flooding of low lying regions such as Hong Kong, Bangladesh and major coastal cities. Also at + 3C, southern Europe will be under a permanent drought. Around the planet, 400 million people will suffer from water scarcity, major cities in the equatorial belt will be inhabitable and heat waves will kill thousands by the end of this century.
If we do nothing, if we do not commit at least to the Paris accord, UN experts predict warming of +4.5C, at this level of warming entire planet regions, will be uninhabitable. ( 250 Million years ago when planet Earth warmed up by 5C 96% of life become extinct.)
Climate-driven calamities will affect both rich and poor nations, wealthy and poor communities. There will be no privileged people and no nations will be excluded from climate caused effects.