The Met Office launched yesterday a new interactive map designed to illustrate the impact of climate change with an average global temperature rise of 4C.
The interactive map follows the release last month of new research saying that the catastrophic increase in temperature could occur as early as 2060 if global GHG emissions do not peak within the next few years.
The interactive map, launched yesterday at an event at the Science Museum attended by foreign secretary David Miliband and chief scientist Professor John Beddington, details the likely impact of rising temperatures on water supplies, sea levels, agricultural productivity and forest fires.
Different impacts of temperatures rise
The latest research shows, as reflected on the map, that temperatures rise will not be uniform and are likely to be concentrated in specific areas. An average increase in global temperature of four degrees will conceal an increase in land-based temperatures of 5.5 degrees, while higher latitudes will see greater increases in temperatures than areas nearer the equator.
The tempeture rise also highlights a selection of potentially catastrophic economic impacts. Half of all Himalayan glaciers will be significantly reduced by2050, leading to 23 per cent of the population of China being deprived of the vital dry season glacial meltwater source. Global crop yields in many major production regions will fall drastically by the same date.
The map provides an overview of the regions and sectors most at risk from temperatures rise over the next century, although is not detailed enough to precisely inform businesses investment decisions.
Governments and businesses to accelerate efforts to cut carbon emissions
Foreign secretary David Miliband said the map provided a clear illustration that societies "cannot cope with a 4C world". He said that "Climate change is a truly global problem that needs a global solution and it is a solution we have within our grasp. We must work together to keep global temperatures to2C. It is only by doing this that we can minimise the huge security risks presented by a future temperatures rise of 4C world."
Ifti Akbar, co-Managing Director at Envido, stressed that “Mitigation is essential, but even if we act today we will still get climate change for some time. It is essential that governments and businesses continued to accelerate efforts to cut carbon emissions in order to give the best chance of limiting temperatures rise to 2C. We must still aim for 2C, but plan to adapt for 4C in case our efforts do not work.”
