World Bank calls for action on climate change

The World Bank has joined the call for greater action on climate change with the release of its' report titled "Turn Down the Heat". According to the Bank, the planet is plausibly on track to reach 4 degrees Celsius in warming above pre-industrial levels as early as 2060 which is double the 2 degrees Celsius threshold established as the target by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to mitigate climate change. A world with a 4 degree C increase would experience major floods, unprecedented heatwaves and negative impacts on ecosystems and human services. This reflects the warning conveyed in the IPCC's 4th Assessment in 2007 and the IPCC has already indicated that the 5th Assessment Report due in 2013 will reinforce the view that current CO2 emissions have been increasing rather than declining. The World Bank warns that a 4 degree C warming would have stronger impacts in some parts of the planet than others, particularly the Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean and the contiguous United States which would have summers hotter than the most extreme heatwaves to date. For Australia, the interior of the continent would be uninhabitable during the Summer months with knock-on effects on water, agriculture and population distribution. The acidification of the oceans would also mean impacts on coral reefs with a corresponding loss of food sources, income, tourism and shoreline protection - all of which apply to Australia.

The report makes sobering reading but equally underscores the critical message that there is still time to act, but only if the action is today and not put off until tomorrow.

 

The full report can be accessed at this link: http://bit.ly/UO5GNq