Extreme weather from global warming is unstoppable and irreversible, warns World Bank
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A report from the World Bank Group has claimed that the world must brace itself for more extreme weather, as it is locked on a path to unstoppable warming.
They say some effects of climate change will be unavoidable owing to past and predicted emissions from power plants, factories and cars.
But they say the worst impacts could be avoided by cutting global emissions.
The World Bank Group in Washington DC says Earth is locked a path to warming. They say extreme weather will become more common as the climate changes. This is due to past and predicted emissions from factories and plants (stock image shown), but the worst impacts can be avoided by cutting emissions
The report, entitled 'Turn down the Heat: Confronting the New Climate Normal', stated that the average temperature on Earth will be 1.5°C (2.7°F) above pre-industrial levels by 2050.
Sea levels will also continue to rise as the vast ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica thaw slowly.
At current temperatures, it's estimated seas would rise seven feet and six inches (2.3 metres) in the next 2,000 years.
Temperatures are set to increase, though, meaning this effect will likely be faster - average temperatures have already risen by about 0.8°C (1.4°F) since the Industrial Revolution, according to the World Bank's report.
'Today's report confirms what scientists have been saying - past emissions have set an unavoidable course to warming over the next two decades, which will affect the world's poorest and most vulnerable people the most,' said Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group.
'We're already seeing record-breaking temperatures occurring more frequently, rainfall increasing in intensity in some places, and drought-prone regions like the Mediterranean becoming drier.'
The report reveals how rising global temperatures are increasingly threatening the health and livelihoods of the most vulnerable populations on Earth, magnifying problems each region is struggling with today.
Predicted effects include reduced crop yields and rising sea levels. In Brazil, without additional adaptation, crop yields could decrease by up to 70 per cent for soybean (pictured( and up to 50 per cent for wheat at 2°C (3.6°F) warming by 2050. In Jordan, Egypt, and Libya, crop yields could decrease by up to 30 per cent
A common threat is the risks posed by heat extremes.
State‐of‐the‐art climate modeling shows that 'highly unusual' heat extremes, similar to the heat-waves experienced in the US in 2012 and Russia and Central Asia in 2010, increase rapidly if emissions cause the world to warm by 4°C (7.2°F).
The report also reveals that the risks of reduced crop yields and production losses for the regions studied increase significantly above 1.5 to 2°C (2.7 to 3.6°F) warming.
For example, a rise of 2°C (3.6°F) in average world temperature over pre-industrial times would mean a reduction in Brazilian crop yields of up to 70 per cent for soybean and up to 50 per cent for wheat in 2050.
In the report Mr Kim wrote: 'Dramatic climate changes and weather extremes are already affecting millions of people around the world, damaging crops and coastlines and putting water security at risk.'
As examples of extremes, he pointed to the hottest November day in Australia 'or the five to six feet [1.5 or 1.8 metres] of snow that just fell on Buffalo' in the US.
Officials from almost 200 nations will meet in Peru from 1 to 12 December to work on a deal, due in Paris in late 2015, to slow climate change.
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