Global warming by degree
From Envirowiki
Contents |
[edit] 0.8
Global mean temperature is currently at ~0.8 degrees above pre-industrial.
- The arctic sea ice is beginning to melt.
- A number of species, such as the golden toad have become extinct due partly or wholly to climate change.
[edit] 1 degrees
- likely no summer Arctic sea ice.
- Arctic permafrost begins melting. 10-30 percent may be affected[1]. This would release methane, causing further warming.
- Amazon rainforest begins to dry, some areas become susceptible to savannisation[1].
- Large droughts and some desertification in California and some of the Great Plains states in the US[1].
- Reduction of World Heritage rain forest in northern Queensland by up to 50%[1].
- Extinction of most of the Great Barrier Reef[1].
- More severe cyclones[1].
- Abondoning of a number of low-lying islands, including whole nations, such as Tuvalu due to sea level rise. Millions of climate refugees[1].
- Complete melting of the Kilimanjaro Ice cap, which has been in place for practically the entire holocene[1].
- Elimination of fresh water from 1/3 of the world's land surface (Hadley centre, quoted in[1].
[edit] 1.5 degrees
[edit] 2 degrees
- Climate feedbacks begin in the Oceans and soils, and get worse in tundra and ice sheets[1].
- Massive damage to the Greenland and West Antarctic ice-sheets[1].
- Extinction of 15-40% of plant and animal species[1].
- Dangerous Ocean acidification[1].
- Drought and desertification in parts of Africa, Australia, Southern Europe[1].
- Frequent and massive heat waves in Europe, similar to the 2003 european heat wave, which added 500 million tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere[1].
- Failure of the monsoon in northern China[1].
- Massive flooding in Bangladesh[1] due to increased sea-level and stronger Monsoons.
- 40-60 percent glacier loss in the Andes by 2050, Cuasing massive water shortages in Lima, Peru, and Chile[1].
- 70 percent loss of snowpack in the Rockies[1].
- Food production losses causing famine in most countries in South America and Africa[1].
- Possibly the total loss of all the world's ice sheets, leading to a 70 meter sea level rise over thousands of years.
