Climate

• Rising temperatures around the globe are rapidly thawing permafrost, and a fifth of frozen soil underlying tundra around the world could thaw by 2040-even if we take drastic steps to mitigate climate change.
• The regional projections show the greatest loss in West Antarctica, responsible for up to 7.1 inches (18 cm) of sea level rise by 2100 in the warmest conditions.
• If greenhouse gas emissions continue apace, Greenland and Antarctica's shrinking ice sheets could together contribute more than 15 inches of global sea level rise by 2100.
• The negative effects of climate change are reducing Africa's Gross Domestic Product by about 1.4% to date and entail adaptation costs of up to 3% of GDP per year in 2030.
• The diversified powertrain portfolio of 2030 including IC engines, different levels of electrification and alternative, sustainable fuels, will lead to a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in agreement with the targets of the Paris climate change conference.
• Based on recent studies, projected changes to storm tide climatology in New York City will contribute a relatively minimal (below 10% relative) impact on changing extreme water levels compared with SLR by the end of the 21st century.
• By 2050, GHG emissions need to be net zero if the world is to have a chance of averting catastrophic climate change.
• The effects of climate change will reduce real GDP growth rate by 0.03 percentage points from 2020-2050, relative to the benchmark climate conditions prevailing in a period near the end of the 20th century.
• The European Union had been pushing China to be more ambitious by moving the peak emissions date to 2025, arguing that the five years are crucial as the planet falls behind in fighting climate change.
• Sales of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars should be banned by 2030 to tackle climate change and air pollution, UK Labour has urged.
• Some researchers, taking a longer perspective, project that climate change will cost the U.S. economy up to $500 billion each year by the end of the century.
• Even with large-scale adaptation investments, sea-level rise will increase international flood losses to US$ 60-63 billion per year in 2050 (compared to approximately US$ 6 billion per year in 2005).
• A third of the global population - 3.5 billion people - could be living in temperatures inhospitable to human life in the next 50 years because of climate change.
• Rising incomes and shifts in food preferences will greatly increase demand for nutritious food in the coming decades, and the ocean can be a big part of meeting that demand.
• Climate change has been projected to have a small impact on the U.S. economy in the next few decades.
• The increasing effect of climate change on the growth rate will reduce the average real GDP growth rate by another 0.02 percentage points, reducing the level of real GDP in 2050 by an additional 0.6%.
• An international consortium of researchers under the aegis of CMIP6 has calculated new estimates for the melting of Earth's ice sheets due to greenhouse gas emissions and its impact on sea levels, showing that the ice sheets could together contribute more than 40 cm by the end of 2100.
• Climate change will, on net, reduce average annual real GDP growth by 0.03 percentage points from 2020 to 2050, relative to growth that would occur under the climatic conditions that prevailed at the end of the 20th century.
• By aiming for deeper emissions cuts within the next decade, the EU hopes to steer its economy towards a commitment to become climate neutral by 2050, and lead in global efforts to curb emissions at a rate that would avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
• The ecological and climate crises are on course to displace more than 1.2 billion people by 2050, as natural disasters, food shortages and water scarcity create mass disruptions to global migration trends.
• Increasing melting rates for ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland match worst-case scenarios for climate warming, potentially exposing 16 million people to annual coastal flooding by the end of the century.
• The Climate Council's Clean Jobs Plan found that supporting large-scale wind and solar could create up to 4,000 jobs in Victoria, rapidly getting people back into the workforce while also tackling climate change.
• Climate change: Sea level rise to affect 'three times more people'.

Last updated: 05 October 2020