Threat to health of the planet

Berlin - Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks.

People and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit, scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report said today.

The report is a dire warning about the consequences of inaction. It shows that climate change is a grave and mounting threat to wellbeing and a healthy planet. Actions today will shape how people adapt and nature responds to increasing climate risks.

The world faces unavoidable multiple climate hazards over the next two decades with global warming of 1.5Cdeg. Even temporarily exceeding this warming level will result in additional severe impacts, some of which will be irreversible. Risks for society will increase, including to infrastructure and low-lying coastal settlements.

Increased heatwaves, droughts and floods are already exceeding plants’ and animals’ tolerance thresholds, driving mass mortalities in species such as trees and corals.

The weather extremes are occurring simultaneously, causing cascading impacts that are increasingly difficult to manage. They have exposed millions of people to acute food and water insecurity, especially in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, on small islands and in the Arctic.

To avoid mounting loss of life, biodiversity and infrastructure, ambitious, accelerated action is required to adapt to climate change, at the same time as making rapid, deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

So far, progress on adaptation is uneven and there are increasing gaps between action taken and what is needed to deal with the increasing risks, the new report finds. These gaps are largest among lower-income populations.