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Broad threat to humanity from cumulative climate hazards intensified by greenhouse gas emissions

Authors :
Leo V. Louis
Michael B. Kantar
Erik C. Franklin
Keith Bettinger
John F. Colburn Ix
Jonathan A. Patz
Christopher M. Little
Daniele Spirandelli
Evan W. Barba
Charlotte Z. Smith
Wendy Miles
Camilo Mora
Kerry Emanuel
Wolfgang Knorr
Justin Sheffield
Cynthia L. Hunter
Yukiko Hirabayashi
John Lynham
Abby G. Frazier
Kelle C. Freel
Jade Moy
Naota Hanasaki
Ed Hawkins
Source :
Nature Climate Change. 8:1062-1071
Publication Year :
2018
Publisher :
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2018.

Abstract

The ongoing emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is triggering changes in many climate hazards that can impact humanity. We found traceable evidence for 467 pathways by which human health, water, food, economy, infrastructure and security have been recently impacted by climate hazards such as warming, heatwaves, precipitation, drought, floods, fires, storms, sea-level rise and changes in natural land cover and ocean chemistry. By 2100, the world’s population will be exposed concurrently to the equivalent of the largest magnitude in one of these hazards if emmisions are aggressively reduced, or three if they are not, with some tropical coastal areas facing up to six simultaneous hazards. These findings highlight the fact that GHG emissions pose a broad threat to humanity by intensifying multiple hazards to which humanity is vulnerable.

Details

ISSN :
17586798 and 1758678X
Volume :
8
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Nature Climate Change
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........301a613c093e1cd5c5cd88b11f901eea
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0315-6