World Bank warns effects of warming climate now unavoidable
As the planet continues to warm, heat-waves and other extreme weather
events that today occur once in hundreds of years, if ever, will become
the “new climate normal,” creating a world of increased risks and
instability, a new World Bank study warns.
The consequences for development would be severe as crop yields decline,
water resources shift, sea-levels rise, and the livelihoods of millions
of people are put at risk, according to a new scientific report released
today by the World Bank Group.
In parts of Central Asia and the Western Balkans specifically,
unprecedented heat extremes could occur in over 60 percent of summer
months and drought risk could increase by 20 percent in a 4°C warmer
world, the report finds. At the same time, projections suggest an
increase in riverine flood risk, mainly in spring and winter, due to
more intense snow melt in spring and heavier rainfall in the winter
months.
Climate change impacts such as extreme heat events may now be
unavoidable because the Earth’s atmospheric system is locked into
warming close to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by mid-century, the
report said. Even very ambitious mitigation action taken today will not
change this, it said.
“Today’s report confirms what scientists have been saying – past
emissions have set an unavoidable course to warming over the next two
decades, which will affect the world’s poorest and most vulnerable
people the most,” said Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group.
“We’re already seeing record-breaking temperatures occurring more
frequently, rainfall increasing in intensity in some places, and
drought-prone regions like the Mediterranean becoming drier.”
“These changes make it more difficult to reduce poverty and put in
jeopardy the livelihoods of millions of people,” Kim said. “They also
have serious consequences for development budgets, and for institutions
like the World Bank Group, where our investments, support and advice
must now also build resilience and help affected populations adapt.”
Polar Bear on ice flow image via Shutterstock.
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