The World Bank has released findings that show the planet is on course for a 4 degree increase in temperature by 2100 unless immediate and decisive action is taken.

 

Prepared by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics, the research shows that the world will face the following consequences unless climate change is mitigated:

  • the flooding of coastal cities
  • increasing risks for food production, potentially leading to higher under and malnutrition rates
  • many dry regions becoming dryer, wet regions wetter
  • unprecedented heat waves in many regions, especially in the tropics
  • substantially exacerbated water scarcity in many regions
  • increased intensity of tropical cyclones
  • irreversible loss of biodiversity, including coral reef systems.

 

While the warnings are dire, the World Bank has announced it is actively attempting to offset the effects of climate change, including rolling out new iniatives in poorer regions of the world, where the Bank estimates the worst impacts of climate change will be felt.

 

"A 4°C warmer world can, and must be, avoided – we need to hold warming below 2°C," said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. "Lack of action on climate change threatens to make the world our children inherit a completely different world than we are living in today. Climate change is one of the single biggest challenges facing development, and we need to assume the moral responsibility to take action on behalf of future generations, especially the poorest."

 

The report has been prepared ahead of the next series of climate reports to be released by the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)