ased.
The risks of a ‘Beyond 2°C’ world
As the recent World Bank report on the risks of a 4°C world points out, the burden of climate risks will fall disproportionately on poorer countries. Countries like Bangladesh, India, Mexico, and Indonesia have large populations that will face increasing risks from rising sea levels, and parts of sub-Saharan Africa will be increasingly vulnerable to widespread droughts and food crises.
Rising temperatures will likely also lead to increases in tropical cyclone intensity, which are likely to be felt disproportionately in low-latitude regions (Typhoon Bopha, which has had a catastrophic impact on the Philippines, formed at an unusually low latitude and may be an example of this phenomenon); extreme heat waves, which are likely to affect many parts of the world; and loss of vital ecosystems like coral reefs, which are at risk from ocean acidification.
Even here in the U.S., we have recently experienced a spate of devastating extreme weather events — such as the Drought of 2012 and Hurricane Sandy — that have likely links to climate change. It’s past time that we had in place a serious national plan to lower emissions and build resilience in the face of climate change that is already unfolding. Our obligations to the international community, especially to those countries that are least responsible for generating emissions and yet are facing the most severe consequences of climate change, should also be clear.
World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim’s foreword to the recent report opens with the sentence “It is my hope that this report shocks us into action….” As we teeter on the brink of a ‘beyond 2°C’ world, I hope indeed that the world’s leaders will be galvanized into action.
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