We are about to see some really shocking changes regarding the environment and biolife all over the world in the couple decades due to global warming. Climate change is no joke anymore, and the damage that human activities have caused are about to have a terrible everlasting impact on the world.
There are two really scary and crucial milestones in the rise of the world’s global warming temperature, which are both predicted to happen if things don’t change. When the world’s average temperature is raised by 2.7 degrees fahrenheit and 3.6 degrees fahrenheit. There are movements all over the world called “1.5 to stay alive”, which is the celsius equivalent to 2.7 degrees fahrenheit. If it’s just a 2.7 degrees change to stay alive, the shocking statistics that occur with a 3.6 degree change should leave everyone pretty frightened at what’s to come in the future.
At the rate we’re currently going we’ve got around 10 years until we hit 2.7 degrees fahrenheit (Kilvert, 2022). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) finds that “limiting warming to 2.7 requires global emissions to be slashed by 45 per cent by 2030”(Kilvert et al IPCC, 2022). So, basically this definitely isn’t going to happen and we are going to see the consequences in the next 10 years. Once this happens we are going to lose 70% of coral reefs in oceans all over the world. Coral Reefs are one of the most important oxygen suppliers, which makes this an extremely big problem. If the temperature ends up rising by 3.6 degree fahrenheit 99% of coral reefs will be destroyed all over the world.
Rise in sea level is also a scary consequence that will come with these climate changes. ABC news states that a rise in 2.7 degrees fahrenheit will cause a sea level rise of about 22 inches (Kilvert, 2022). This will pretty much remove a small chunk of all low sea level islands. If the rise is 3.6 degrees the sea levels may rise about 37 inches (Kilvert, 2022). This will erase a massive portion from almost all low sea level islands. Australia especially and their entire ecosystem is pretty much completely screwed at this change. The rise in heat will destroy and have insanely detrimental impacts on all places which experience warm extremes and heat all year round.
If this doesn’t scare you enough NPR states that, “unheard of storms will become more common (Sommer, 2021).” For someone who is personally scared of natural disasters this statement makes me into an underground bunker. The rise in temperature in the atmosphere pretty much means that we will have insane city flooding storms way more often than usual.
All these changes are frightening and will have an extremely detrimental impact on the entire world, so please take your own steps in helping out the cause. Try to use renewable energy, reduce water waste, and drive a fuel efficient car. One person’s actions may seem small, but so does the difference between 2.7 and 3.6 degrees fahrenheit.
References
Kilvert, N. (2022, April 18). The goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C is slipping from our grasp. here’s what 2C means. ABC News. Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-04-18/1-5-vs-2c-degrees-warming-difference-climate-global/100981866
Sommer, L. (2021, November 8). This is what the world looks like if we pass the crucial 1.5-degree climate threshold. NPR. Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2021/11/08/1052198840/1-5-degrees-warming-climate-change
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