A major research programme led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) has quantified how climate change risks to human and natural systems increase at a national scale as the level of global warming increases.
A major research programme led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) has quantified how climate change risks to human and natural systems increase at a national scale as the level of global warming increases.
A collection of eight studies – all focusing on Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana and India - shows that the risks of drought, flooding, declines in crop yields, and loss of biodiversity and natural capital greatly increase for each additional degree of global warming.
The overarching picture for the accrual of climate risk across these countries as global warming increases from 1.5 ºC to 4 ºC above pre-industrial levels is presented in a final paper synthesizing the findings and published today in the journal Climatic Change. A series of infographics presenting the findings of the underlying research can be found here: https://avoidedimpacts.science/.
The team found very large increases in the exposure of agricultural land to drought with 3 ºC warming – more than 50 per cent of the agricultural land in each country is projected to be exposed to severe droughts of longer than one year in a 30-year period.
Read more at: University of East Anglia
Parry’s Phacelia, native to Southern California, grows beneath burnt brush, at the Loma Ridge site where UCI’s Sarah Kimball conducted the research. (Photo Credit: Jessica Rath / UCI)
