Published in Nature Climate Change, a new study details how human society is vulnerable to multiple forms of climate hazards. Not just temperature or ocean levels rising, climate change is disrupting human society in hundreds of ways. 467, according to the research.
phys.org reports:
An analysis of thousands of peer-reviewed scientific papers reveals 467 ways in which human health, food, water, economy, infrastructure, and security have been impacted by multiple climatic changes including: warming, drought, heatwaves, wildfires, precipitation, floods, storms, sea level rise and changes in land cover and ocean chemistry.
The different impacts and hazards of climate change influence one another, accelerate one another, multiply the effects of each singular aspect.
Gas emissions increase atmospheric temperature. This enhances soil water evaporation, contributing to draughts. In turn, this increases the likelihood of wildfires and heatwaves.
Carbon emissions abosorbed by the oceans increases their acidity, contributing to loss of sea life. This in turn disrupts local coastal economies. Fishing becomes more difficult. Fishing fleets need to travel further to find more fish, using more fossil fuels and resources.
"Greenhouse gas emissions pose a broad threat to humanity by simultaneously intensifying many hazards that have proven harmful in the past," said lead author Camilo Mora, associate professor of geography in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa "Further, we predict that by 2100 the number of hazards occurring concurrently will increase, making it even more difficult for people to cope."
An interactive map detailing different aspects of climate change, and their overall hazard, can be found here
The website shows the cumulative level of hazards based on sea level, fires, deforestation, ocean change, warming, storms, drought, freshwater deficit, heatwaves, floods and precipitation.
Putting it to its max level, of 2100 at a RCP 8.5 (Representative Concentration Pathway). RCP’s describe different possible climate policy outcomes. They have four ranges: 2.5, 4.5, 6 and 8.5.
The consequence of each policy is shown in this graph
The world, at RCP 8.5, by 2100, is a nightmare.
Given the current state of human political economy, it’s exactly where we’re headed.
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