Confronting Climate Change

Confronting Climate Change

Effects of Climate Change

Effects of Climate Change

 

The time to drive innovation is now

 

The Climate Crisis is Here

Climate change is affecting many economic sectors: The time to drive innovation is now

  • Altering the value of real estate, causing some areas to appreciate and others to decline
  • Presenting new financial risks, disclosure requirements, and insurance considerations
  • Posing operating challenges for businesses and their supply chains

As climate change continues, businesses, governments, and citizens will have an opportunity to work together to:

  • Implement new policies for mitigating or adapting to climate change at the local, state, federal, and international levels
  • Transform the sources of energy we rely on, how and where we grow food, the modes of transportation we use, the infrastructure of cities, and the materials we use to build them
  • Adapt to climate change by making vulnerable areas more resilient and decide when to rebuild, restrict development, or retreat

Economic development and innovative technologies have contributed to climate change—and are also essential to address it. Government policies can create incentives to accelerate progress.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which includes more than 1,300 scientists from around the world, forecasts a temperature rise of 1.4° to 5.5° Celsius by 2100 with serious consequences for business and for the natural systems on which our current ways of life depend.

According to the IPCC, greenhouse gas emissions must be net zero by 2050 to keep global warming below 1.5° C and thereby avoid the most serious impacts of climate change.[1]

Major Effects of Climate Change

Temperature Rise

18 of the 19 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001 [2]. July 2019 was the hottest month on record on Earth [3].

Sea Level Rise

By 2050 at least 570 cities and some 800 million people will be exposed to rising seas and storm surges [4].

Extreme Weather

Annual weather-related natural disasters (hurricanes, intense rain, tornadoes, snow storms) have more than tripled since the 1960s. Every year, these disasters result in some 60,000 deaths, mainly in developing countries [5].

Climate Migrants

In 2018, 16 million people were displaced by weather-related disasters across 148 countries and territories, including 764,000 displaced by drought in Somalia, Afghanistan, and elsewhere [6].

Poor Health

Climate change is predicted to be responsible for 250,000 additional deaths each year between 2030 and 2050 as the result of heat exposure among the elderly, childhood undernutrition, malaria, and other diseases exacerbated by climate change [7].

Water

The variable rain patterns associated with climate change will make safe drinking water less available in many regions, increasing the risk of water-born disease, famine, and draught [7].

Air Pollution

Burning fossil fuels causes air pollution that is responsible for killing 7.3 million people annually. The use of cleaner energy and improved transportation has the potential to dramatically improve health by reducing the major sources of air pollution [7].

Mass extinctions and ecosystem collapse

Some 1 million species are now threatened with extinction, with climate change as a major cause [8].

Changing agricultural conditions

The growing region for wheat moves further north each year in the U.S., Europe, and Russia [9]. Storms, heat, and drought also impact crop yields and prices.

Visualizing Climate Change Effects

  • 1880-2019
  • NASA

Global Warming

Global WarmingGlobal Warming
  • 1880-2019
  • NASA
  • Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego

Global Average Carbon Dioxide Concentration (ppm)

Global Average Carbon Dioxide Concentration (ppm)Global Average Carbon Dioxide Concentration (ppm)
  • Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego
  • 1950s vs 2010s
  • NASA

Frost-free Regions Over Asia

Frost-free Regions Over AsiaFrost-free Regions Over Asia
  • 1950s vs 2010s
  • NASA
  • 1979-2018
  • NASA

Annual Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Area

Annual Arctic Sea Ice Minimum AreaAnnual Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Area
  • 1979-2018
  • NASA
  • 2019
  • Climate Central

Surging Seas in Boston, Venice, Tokyo, and Hong Kong

Surging Seas in Boston, Venice, Tokyo, and Hong KongSurging Seas in Boston, Venice, Tokyo, and Hong Kong
  • 2019
  • Climate Central
  1. “Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5° C,” Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2018, accessed October 8, 2019.
  2. “Global Temperature,” National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 2019, accessed September 8, 2019.
  3. “July 2019 Was Hottest Month on Record for the Planet,” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), August 15, 2019.
  4. “The Global Risks Report 2019,” World Economic Forum (WEF), January 15, 2019.
  5. “Climate Change and Health,” World Health Organization (WHO), February 1, 2018.
  6. “Let’s Talk About Climate Migrants, Not Climate Refugees,” United Nations (UN), June 6, 2019.
  7. “Climate change and health,” World Health Organization (WHO), February 1, 2018.
  8. “Summary for policymakers of the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services,” Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), May 29, 2019.
  9. “The effects of climate change,” National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 2019, accessed September 8, 2019.
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