Representatives from more than 100 countries have gathered in Brussels to agree on a UN report about climate change effects on the earth, which is the second of a series of four.
The main findings show that draught and ice melting will leave more than 1 billion people without access to water in the coming years. At the same time, some regions might be affected by stronger storms and floods, according to the report, which foresees a very alarming scenario if nothing is done to stop the warming process. Also, the report includes really negative predictions on species extinction, for as much as one fifth of all species might disappear in a massive process.
In the first study, published last February, scientists agreed that human activity is the main reason for global warming. Now this UN report focuses on the effects of this warming on the planet; the report also warns governments that they should "adapt to the consequences of climate change". "Politicians cannot ignore the results of this report, since global warming is already changing the world", they say.
According to the study, an increase of 1.5ºC from the average temperature recorded during 1990 could put one third of all species under important extinction risk. More than one billion people would face water shortages. The latest report also informs that it is already too late to prevent some of the effects of climate change on the planet. "Man can only adapt", they say, as it is now too late to prevent certain changes from happening.
Scientists agree that a greater increase, something like 2ºC from 1990 levels, would transform some of the earth's habitats. Any increase above 2ºC would bring a collapse in "most of the ecosystems". Unfortunately, this catastrophic scenario is not too far away from the temperature predictions made in the first UN report, which put the likely increases in temperature somewhere between 1.8ºC and 4ºC by the end of this century.
Promoting renewable energy on a large scale seems to be one of the best ideas to ensure that this increase is as close as possible to the lower figure (1.8ºC), as otherwise humanity might be facing serious threats and many people would be forced to make significant changes in their lifestyle.
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