[ad_1]
Want climate news in your inbox? Register here for Climate Fwd:, our e-newsletter.
Global warming poses risks so diverse for humanity, involving many types of phenomena, that by the end of the century, some regions of the world could face six simultaneous climate-related crises, according to reports. researchers.
This frightening prospect is described in an article published Monday in Nature Climate Change, a renowned academic journal that shows the effects of climate change on a wide range of issues, including: heat waves, forest fires, sea level rise, hurricanes, floods, drought and shortages of drinking water.
These problems already go hand in hand, said lead author, Camilo Mora, from the University of Hawaii to Manoa. He noted that Florida had recently experienced extreme drought, record temperatures and forest fires – as well as Hurricane Michael, the powerful Category 4 storm that hit the Panhandle last month. Similarly, California is experiencing the worst forest fires ever seen, as well as drought, extreme heat waves and a deterioration in the quality of the air threatening the health of the inhabitants.
Things will get worse, wrote the authors. The paper future trends projects and suggests that by 2100, unless humanity takes drastic action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, some tropical coastal areas of the planet, such as the coast Atlantic of Central and South America, could be affected by six crises at a time.
This perspective is "like a terrorist film that is real," said Dr. Mora.
The authors include a list of reservations regarding research: since it is a review of documents, it will reflect some of the potential biases of science in this area, including the possibility that scientists will focus more on the negative effects than on the positives; There is also a margin of uncertainty in the distinction between the footprint of climate change and natural variability.
New York can expect to be affected by four climate crises both by 2100 if carbon emissions continue at their current rate, says the study, but if emissions are reduced significantly this number could be reduced to one. The troubled regions of the coastal tropics could see their number of competing risks reduced from six to three.
The paper explores ways in which climate change intensifies hazards and describes the interconnected nature of such crises. Emissions of greenhouse gases, by warming the atmosphere, can improve drought in normally dry places, "maturing conditions of wildfires and heat waves," say the researchers. In wetter areas, a warmer atmosphere retains more moisture and strengthens showers, while rising sea levels increase storm surges and warming waters. Ocean can contribute to the overall destruction ability of storms.
In a scientific world marked by specialization and siled research, this multidisciplinary effort by 23 authors examined more than 3,000 articles on various effects of climate change. The authors determined 467 effects of these climate changes on the physical and mental health of humans, food security, water availability, infrastructure and other aspects of life on Earth .
The paper concludes that traditional research on an element of climate change and its effects may miss all relationships and risks.
The authors found that climate change also had different ramifications for the world's haves and have-nots: "The greatest loss of life resulting from extreme weather events occurred in developing countries, while developed countries generally face a heavy economic burden of damage. "
People are generally unaware of problem solving such as climate change, Dr. Mora said. "As human beings, we do not feel the pain of people who are far away or in the future," he said. "Normally, we care about people who are close to us or who affect us, or what will happen tomorrow."
And so, he said, people tend to look at distant events and say, "We can deal with these things later, we have more urgent issues now." But, he added, this research "showed how bad it is already."
Michael E. Mann, a climatologist from Pennsylvania State University who did not participate in the document, said that it underscored the urgency of action to reduce the effects of climate change and has shown that "the costs of inaction far outweigh the costs of doing. "
Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, co-author of the new paper, praised his interdisciplinary approach. "There is more than one type of risk," he said, but scientists tend to focus on their area of research. "Nations, societies in general, face multiple hazards and it is important to paint a complete picture."
As military leaders develop the ability to fight on multiple fronts, governments must be prepared to deal with more than one climate crisis at a time, said Dr. Emanuel.
Dr. Mora said he planned to write a book or movie that would reflect the scary results of the research. His job title, which describes how serious the situation is for humanity, is impossible to print right here. His alternative title, he said, is "We told you."
For more information on the climate and the environment, follow @NYTClimate on Twitter.
[ad_2]
Source link
