World Bank Group reports Rise in Average World Temperatures

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Correspondent (Science)

 

WASHINGTON – A new scientific report released by the World Bank Group stated that the next few decades will witness a two degree Celsius rise in the world’s average temperatures, which if left unchecked, will rise by four degree Celcius. As a result, in Sub-Saharan Africa, food shortages will become more common, while in South Asia, shifting rain patterns will leave some areas under water and others without enough water for power generation, irrigation or drinking. In South East Asia, the degradation and loss of coral reefs will diminish tourism, reduce fish stocks, and leave coastal communities and cities more vulnerable to storms.

Turn Down The Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts and the Case for Resilience builds on a 2012 Bank report that concluded the world would warm by 4°C above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century if countries did not take concerted action now.

It states, “These communities – the poor in coastal cities and on low-lying islands – are among the world’s most vulnerable to climate change and the least able to marshal the resources to adapt… They face a world where climate change will increasingly threaten the food supplies of Sub-Saharan Africa, and the farm fields and water resources of South Asia and South East Asia within the next three decades, while extreme weather puts their homes and lives at risk.”

“This new report outlines an alarming scenario for the days and years ahead – what we could face in our lifetime,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “The scientists tell us that if the world warms by 2°C – warming which may be reached in 20 to 30 years – that will cause widespread food shortages, unprecedented heat-waves, and more intense cyclones. In the near-term, climate change, which is already unfolding, could greatly harm the lives and the hopes of individuals and families who have had little hand in raising the Earth’s temperature. Urgent action is needed to not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also to help countries prepare for a world of dramatic climate and weather extremes.”

Such rises in temperature threaten to destroy whatever development these regions have earned and further push them into fatal conditions of poverty. Therefore, environmental concerns should make up a major part of their developmental plans.

South Asia is already experiencing a warming climate, the report says, that can be seen in warmer periods in India, increasing variability of the monsoon rainfall, more heavy rainfalls and an increase in the number of droughts. Already this year, more than 800 people have been killed by an unexpectedly heavy flood in Uttarakhand.

“South Asia would be very affected by a warming climate,” said Isabel Guerrero, Regional Vice President for South Asia at the World Bank. “In a 2°C rise world, the region would see changes in rainfall patterns: some areas would be getting much more rain than they are today and others would be getting droughts. In a 4°C rise world the impact would be even higher: the monsoon patterns that are central to South Asia and have implications in the whole region in many different ways, would change. A hugely disruptive monsoon that happened every 100 years would happen every decade.”

“In the South Asia region, it is urgent to do prevention work, some of which is already happening,” said Guerrero. “Bangladesh is at the fore front; we have projects and a large multi-donor fund that works on having early warning systems for floods and embankments when there are floods to protect crops and fields and to prevent destruction of the urban infrastructure. And some farmers are already growing vegetables that are adapted to water.”

“Many South East Asian countries are already taking concerted actions to address the impacts of climate change, but this report tells us that we need to do much more. We need to both intensify and accelerate these actions to reduce the ever-increasing vulnerability of populations to climate risk, especially the poor and vulnerable,” said Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific.

“Countries need support to help re-orient their development plans so that climate change is factored into their planning process to build on efforts already underway. The Government of Vietnam has sought Bank support to respond to the challenges of climate change and the opportunity to shift to climate resilient, low-carbon growth, and the Philippines has enacted a Climate Change Act and a National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management law that marks a big improvement in how the country is dealing with the challenge of climate change,” said van Trotsenburg.

The report, by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics, stated that, “It is not too late to hold warming near two degrees Celsius, and build resilience to temperatures and other climate impacts that are expected to still pose significant risks… The window for holding warming below two degrees Celsius and avoiding a four degrees Celsius rise is closing rapidly, and the time to act is now.”

For a copy of Turn Down The Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts and the Case for Resilience go to: http://climatechange.worldbank.org

(with inputs from agencies)

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Image Courtesy: World Bank (www.worldbank.org);