Incheon (South Korea): The world’s biggest review report on climate change, released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has warned that India could face an annual threat of deadly heatwaves, similar to the one in 2015 that had left around 2,500 people dead, if the world gets warmer by 2 degree Celsius over pre-industrial levels, reported Times of India.
In the Indian subcontinent, the IPCC report specifically mentions Kolkata and Karachi among cities that could face an increased threat of heat waves.
“Karachi and Kolkata can expect annual conditions equivalent to their deadly 2015 heat waves. Climate change is significantly contributing to increased heat-related mortality,” Times of India quoted the report as saying.
The report further said that poverty is expected to increase with rise in global warming. “Limiting global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius as against 2 degree Celsius can reduce the number of people exposed to climate-related risks and poverty by up to several hundred million by 2050,” the report said.
In its landmark report, the UN has warned that time is running out to avert disaster, adding that avoiding global climate chaos will require a major transformation of society and the world economy that is “unprecedented in scale”.
Earth’s surface has warmed one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) — enough to lift oceans and unleash a crescendo of deadly storms, floods and droughts — and is on track toward an unliveable 3C or 4C rise.
At current levels of greenhouse gas emissions, we could pass the 1.5C marker as early as 2030, and no later than mid-century, the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) reported with “high confidence”.
Courtesy: India .Com
