In Saint-Louis (Senegal), in August 2021, a little girl observes the construction of a dyke against rising water levels due to global warming.
John Wessels/AFP
With the world on track to blow the carbon budget for 1.5℃ before the end of this decade, we must use offsetting carefully. It can no longer be a substitute for deep emissions cuts.
While carbon dioxide removal from the air is not a replacement for emissions reductions, it can supplement these efforts. Experts are continually researching the best ways to do this.
Olaf Morgenstern, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
The current estimate is that Earth would warm by 1.5℃ to 4.5℃ if emissions were to double on pre-industrial levels. The range has remained stubbornly wide, despite improved climate modelling.
New Zealand can expect more days above 25℃, the threshold for heat stress in livestock, and fewer frost days, which will affect crops like kiwifruit that need winter chilling.
Climate change has increased the risk of huge bushfires in Australia.
josh.tagi / shutterstock
From melting glaciers to mounting storms, the impacts of climate change are global – but they’re not equally shared.
A burned ‘Caution: Children at play’ sign remained after a wildfire devastated the town of Berry Creek, Calif., in 2020.
Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The author’s 9-year-old son will likely face about four times as many extreme events in his lifetime as older adults today. An international report explains the impacts already being felt.
Globally, about a billion people living in coastal cities are at risk of climate hazards. The impacts go well beyond the coast and could affect us all, with disruptions to supply chains and trade.
A mother and son watch as firefighters battle wildfires in Shoresh, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, on Aug. 16, 2021.
(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
For the first time, an IPCC climate report has assessed evidence that weather and climate extremes are already affecting mental health — and are likely to worsen.
The old village of Aceredo, submerged 30 years ago when a hydropower dam flooded the valley, emerged during a drought in northwestern Spain, in February 2022.
(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Water is central to adapting to climate change, but very few of the strategies put in place to respond to water hazards or ensure its availability have been evaluated.
As the impacts and costs of climate change increase over time, New Zealand’s financial systems could become less stable and the government less able to support those affected.
Mark Howden, Australian National University; Joy Pereira, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (National University of Malaysia), and Roberto Sánchez, Colegio de la Frontera Norte
The IPCC is the global authority on climate change. Their new report paints a worrying picture of climate impacts already affecting billions of people, economies and the environment.
Weather and climate extremes are already here, and communities will have to adapt.
Michael Hall via Getty Images