According to the UN, if Global Warming rises above 1.5 degrees, heatwave conditions can occur more than four times in a decade.
The latest climate conference concluded in Glasgow Scotland where the heads of governments and experts gathered to chalk out a strategy to keep Global Warming within 1.5 degrees. However one may wonder what difference it will make if global warming is 2 degrees? Yes, it will make a big difference.
The Global temperature is rising at an average rate of 1.1 degrees per year. Climate scientist at the German Climate Service Centre Danielle Jacob said that Global Warming has risen at an unprecedented rate in the past decade. One must understand that for every half-degree rise in temperature the intensity of climate change will increase by a factor of 10.
The figure of a 1.5-degree rise of world temperature has been deduced after an exhaustive analysis of different climate models and after including every parameter which will have an effect on the climate behaviour. Every fraction added to the 1.5-degree, global warming benchmark will precipitate even severe rain, hail, floods and famine.
According to the United Nations, heatwave peaks every decade. If Global Warming rises above 1.5 degrees, heatwave conditions can occur more than four times in a decade. Further, if the global temperatures increase by 2 degrees we can see heatwave peak conditions five or six times in a decade.
If the Global Warming rise is kept below 1.5 degrees, the Greenland Ice cover and the Western Atlantic Ice Cover can be saved. However, if the global rise in temperatures increases to two degrees, it will spell a death knell for the ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere. The sea levels across the globe will rise by over 30 feet inundating large portions of the coastlines and also threatening the existence of numerous island nations. Every year India’s bustling metros –Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkatta face the wrath of nature and the ferocity is increasing with each passing year.
If the Global Warming rise is kept below 1.5 degrees, it will lead to a 70% loss of Coral Reefs but if the global temperatures increase by 2 degrees it will lead to 99% destruction of the coral reefs. It will also have a crippling effect on the fish output of the oceans which is a major nutrition source of mankind. If by chance, the global temperatures increase by more than 2 degrees, it could mean apocalypse and the end of mankind.
