74455 Turn Down Heat the Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided Turn Down Heat the Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided November 2012 A Report for the World Bank by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics © 2012 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. 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Contents Acknowledgements vii Foreword ix Executive Summary xiii Observed Impacts and Changes to the Climate System xiv Projected Climate Change Impacts in a 4°C World xv Rising CO2 Concentration and Ocean Acidification xv Rising Sea Levels, Coastal Inundation and Loss xv Risks to Human Support Systems: Food, Water, Ecosystems, and Human Health xvi Risks of Disruptions and Displacements in a 4°C World xvii List of Abbreviations xix 1. Introduction 1 2. Observed Climate Changes and Impacts 5 The Rise of CO2 Concentrations and Emissions 5 Rising Global Mean Temperature 6 Increasing Ocean Heat Storage 6 Rising Sea Levels 7 Increasing Loss of Ice from Greenland and Antarctica 8 Ocean Acidification 11 Loss of Arctic Sea Ice 12 Heat Waves and Extreme Temperatures 13 Drought and Aridity Trends 14 Agricultural Impacts 15 Extreme Events in the Period 2000–12 16 Possible Mechanism for Extreme Event Synchronization 16 Welfare Impacts 17 3. 21st Century Projections 21 How Likely is a 4°C World? 23 CO2 Concentration and Ocean Acidification 24 iii Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Droughts and Precipitation 26 Tropical Cyclones 27 4. Focus: Sea-level Rise Projections 29 Regional Sea-level Rise Risks 31 5. Focus: Changes in Extreme Temperatures 37 A Substantial Increase in Heat Extremes 37 Shifts in Temperature by Region 38 Frequency of Significantly Warmer Months 39 The Impacts of More Frequent Heat Waves 41 6. Sectoral Impacts 43 Agriculture 43 Water Resources 47 Ecosystems and Biodiversity 49 Human Health 54 System Interaction and Non-linearity—The Need for Cross-sector 7.  Risk Assessments 59 Risks of Nonlinear and Cascading Impacts 60 Concluding Remarks 64 Appendix 1. Methods for Modeling Sea-level Rise in a 4°C World 67 Appendix 2 Methods for analyzing extreme heat waves in a 4°C world 71 Bibliography 73 Figures 1. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations at Mauna Loa Observatory 5 2. Global CO2 (a) and total greenhouse gases (b) historic (solid lines) and projected (dashed lines) emissions 6 3. Temperature data from different sources corrected for short-term temperature variability 7 4. The increase in total ocean heat content from the surface to 2000 m, based on running five-year analyses. Reference period is 1955–2006 7 5. Global mean sea level (GMSL) reconstructed from tide-gauge data (blue, red) and measured from satellite altimetry (black) 8 6. (a) The contributions of land ice thermosteric sea-level rise, and terrestrial, as well as observations from tide gauges (since 1961) and satellite observations (since 1993) (b) the sum of the individual contributions approximates the observed sea-level rise since the 1970s 9 7. Reconstruction of regional sea-level rise rates for the period 1952–2009, during which the average sea-level rise rate was 1.8 mm per year (equivalent to 1.8 cm/decade) 9 8. The North Carolina sea-level record reconstructed for the past 2,000 years. The period after the late 19th century shows the clear effect of human induced sea-level rise 9 9. Total ice sheet mass balance, dM/dt, between 1992 and 2010 for (a) Greenland, (b) Antarctica, and c) the sum of Greenland and Antarctica 10 10. Greenland surface melt measurements from three satellites on July 8 and July 12, 2012 11 iv Co ntents 11. Observed changes in ocean acidity (pH) compared to concentration of carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater (p CO2) alongside the atmospheric CO2 record from 1956 11 12. Geographical overview of the record reduction in September’s sea ice extent compared to the median distribution for the period 1979–2000 12 13. (a) Arctic sea ice extent for 2007–12, with the 1979–2000 average in dark grey; light grey shading represents two standard deviations. (b) Changes in multiyear ice from 1983 to 2012 12 14. Russia 2010 and United States 2012 heat wave temperature anomalies as measured by satellites 13 15. Distribution (top panel) and timeline (bottom) of European summer temperatures since 1500 13 16. Excess deaths observed during the 2003 heat wave in France. O= observed; E= expected 14 17. Drought conditions experienced on August 28 in the contiguous United States 14 18. Northern Hemisphere land area covered (left panel) by cold (< -0.43σ), very cold (< -2σ), extremely cold (< -3σ) and (right panel) by hot (> 0.43σ), very hot (> 2σ) and extremely hot (> 3σ) summer temperatures 15 19. Observed wintertime precipitation (blue), which contributes most to the annual budget, and summertime temperature (red), which is most important with respect to evaporative drying, with their long-term trend for the eastern Mediterranean region 16 20. Probabilistic temperature estimates for old (SRES) and new (RCP) IPCC scenarios 21 21. Probabilistic temperature estimates for new (RCP) IPCC scenarios, based on the synthesized carbon-cycle and climate system understanding of the IPCC AR4 23 22. Median estimates (lines) from probabilistic temperature projections for two nonmitigation emission scenarios 24 23. The correlation between regional warming and precipitation changes in the form of joint distributions of mean regional temperature and precipitation changes in 2100 is shown for the RCP3-PD and RCP8.5 scenarios 25 24. Simulated historic and 21st century global mean temperature anomalies, relative to the preindustrial period (1880–1900), for 24 CMIP5 models based on the RCP8.5 scenario 25 25. Projected impacts on coral reefs as a consequence of a rising atmospheric CO2 concentration 26 26. Ocean surface pH. Lower pH indicates more severe ocean acidification, which inhibits the growth of calcifying organisms, including shellfish, calcareous phytoplankton, and coral reefs 26 27. Sea level (blue, green: scale on the left) and Antarctic air temperature (orange, gray: scale on the right) over the last 550,000 years, from paleo-records 30 28. As for Figure 22 but for global mean sea-level rise using a semi-empirical approach 32 29. As for Figure 22 but for annual rate of global mean sea-level rise 32 30. Present-day sea-level dynamic topography 32 31. Present-day rates of regional sea-level rise due to land-ice melt only (modeled from a compilation of land-ice loss observations) 33 32. Sea-level rise in a 4°C warmer world by 2100 along the world’s coastlines, from South to North 33 33. Multimodel mean of monthly warming over the 21st century (2080–2100 relative to present day) for the months of JJA and DJF in units of degrees Celsius and in units of local standard deviation of temperature 38 34. Multimodel mean of the percentage of months during 2080–2100 that are warmer than 3-, 4- and 5-sigma relative to the present-day climatology 39 v Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided 35. Multimodel mean compilation of the most extreme warm monthly temperature experienced at each location in the period 2080–2100 40 36. Distribution of monthly temperature projected for 2070 (2.9°C warming) across the terrestrial and freshwater components of WWF’s Global 200 53 A1.1: Regional sea-level projection for the lower ice-sheet scenario and the higher ice sheet scenario 68 A1.2: Difference in sea-level rise between a 4°C world and a 2°C world for the lower and higher ice-sheet scenario 68 A2.1: Simulated historic and 21st century global mean temperature anomalies, relative to the pre-industrial period (1880–1900), for 24 CMIP5 models based on the RCP8.5 scenario 71 Tables 1. Record Breaking Weather Extremes 2000–12 18 2. Global Mean Sea-Level Projections Between Present-Day (1980–99) and the 2090–99 Period 31 3. Projected Impacts on Different Crops Without and With Adaptation 45 4. Projected Changes in Median Maize Yields under Different Management Options and Global Mean Warming Levels 46 5. Number of People Affected by River Flooding in European Regions (1000s) 55 Boxes 1. What are Emission Scenarios? 22 2. Predictability of Future Sea-Level Changes 30 3. Sub-Saharan Africa 62 vi Acknowledgements The report Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided is a result of contributions from a wide range of experts from across the globe. We thank everyone who contributed to its richness and multidisciplinary outlook. The report has been written by a team from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics, including Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, William Hare, Olivia Serdeczny, Sophie Adams, Dim Coumou, Katja Frieler, Maria Martin, Ilona M. Otto, Mahé Perrette, Alexander Robinson, Marcia Rocha, Michiel Schaeffer, Jacob Schewe, Xiaoxi Wang, and Lila Warszawski. The report was commissioned by the World Bank’s Global Expert Team for Climate Change Adaptation, led by Erick C.M. Fernandes and Kanta Kumari Rigaud, who worked closely with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics. Jane Olga Ebinger coordinated the World Bank team and valuable insights were provided throughout by Rosina Bierbaum (University of Michigan) and Michael MacCracken (Climate Institute, Washington DC). The report received insightful comments from scientific peer reviewers. We would like to thank Ulisses Confalonieri, Andrew Friend, Dieter Gerten, Saleemul Huq, Pavel Kabat, Thomas Karl, Akio Kitoh, Reto Knutti, Anthony McMichael, Jonathan Overpeck, Martin Parry, Barrie Pittock, and John Stone. Valuable guidance and oversight was provided by Rachel Kyte, Mary Barton-Dock, Fionna Douglas and Marianne Fay. We are grateful to colleagues from the World Bank for their input: Sameer Akbar, Keiko Ashida, Ferid Belhaj, Rachid Benmessaoud, Bonizella Biagini, Anthony Bigio, Ademola Braimoh, Haleh Bridi, Penelope Brook, Ana Bucher, Julia Bucknall, Jacob Burke, Raffaello Cervigni, Laurence Clarke, Francoise Clottes, Annette Dixon, Philippe Dongier, Milen Dyoulgerov, Luis Garcia, Habiba Gitay, Susan Goldmark, Ellen Goldstein, Gloria Grandolini, Stephane Hallegatte, Valerie Hickey, Daniel Hoornweg, Stefan Koeberle, Motoo Konishi, Victoria Kwakwa, Marcus Lee, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, Meleesa McNaughton, Robin Mearns, Nancy Chaarani Meza, Alan Miller, Klaus Rohland, Onno Ruhl, Michal Rutkowski, Klas Sander, Hartwig Schafer, Patrick Verkooijen Dorte Verner, Deborah Wetzel, Ulrich Zachau and Johannes Zutt. We would like to thank Robert Bisset and Sonu Jain for outreach efforts to partners, the scientific com- munity and the media. Perpetual Boateng, Tobias Baedeker and Patricia Braxton provided valuable support to the team. We acknowledge with gratitude Connect4Climate that contributed to the production of this report. vii Foreword It is my hope that this report shocks us into action. Even for those of us already committed to fighting climate change, I hope it causes us to work with much more urgency. This report spells out what the world would be like if it warmed by 4 degrees Celsius, which is what scientists are nearly unanimously predicting by the end of the century, without serious policy changes. The 4°C scenarios are devastating: the inundation of coastal cities; increasing risks for food produc- tion potentially leading to higher malnutrition rates; many dry regions becoming dryer, wet regions wet- ter; unprecedented heat waves in many regions, especially in the tropics; substantially exacerbated water scarcity in many regions; increased frequency of high-intensity tropical cyclones; and irreversible loss of biodiversity, including coral reef systems. And most importantly, a 4°C world is so different from the current one that it comes with high uncer- tainty and new risks that threaten our ability to anticipate and plan for future adaptation needs. The lack of action on climate change not only risks putting prosperity out of reach of millions of people in the developing world, it threatens to roll back decades of sustainable development. It is clear that we already know a great deal about the threat before us. The science is unequivocal that humans are the cause of global warming, and major changes are already being observed: global mean warming is 0.8°C above pre industrial levels; oceans have warmed by 0.09°C since the 1950s and are acidi- fying; sea levels rose by about 20 cm since pre-industrial times and are now rising at 3.2 cm per decade; an exceptional number of extreme heat waves occurred in the last decade; major food crop growing areas are increasingly affected by drought. Despite the global community’s best intentions to keep global warming below a 2°C increase above pre-industrial climate, higher levels of warming are increasingly likely. Scientists agree that countries’ cur- rent United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change emission pledges and commitments would most likely result in 3.5 to 4°C warming. And the longer those pledges remain unmet, the more likely a 4°C world becomes. Data and evidence drive the work of the World Bank Group. Science reports, including those produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, informed our decision to ramp up work on these issues, leading to, a World Development Report on climate change designed to improve our understanding of the implications of a warming planet; a Strategic Framework on Development and Climate Change, and a report on Inclusive Green Growth. The World Bank is a leading advocate for ambitious action on climate change, not only because it is a moral imperative, but because it makes good economic sense. But what if we fail to ramp up efforts on mitigation? What are the implications of a 4°C world? We commissioned this report from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics to help us understand the state of the science and the potential impact on development in such a world. ix Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided It would be so dramatically different from today’s world that it is hard to describe accurately; much relies on complex projections and interpretations. We are well aware of the uncertainty that surrounds these scenarios and we know that different scholars and studies sometimes disagree on the degree of risk. But the fact that such scenarios cannot be discarded is sufficient to justify strengthening current climate change policies. Finding ways to avoid that scenario is vital for the health and welfare of communities around the world. While every region of the world will be affected, the poor and most vulnerable would be hit hardest. A 4°C world can, and must, be avoided. The World Bank Group will continue to be a strong advocate for international and regional agreements and increasing climate financing. We will redouble our efforts to support fast growing national initiatives to mitigate carbon emissions and build adaptive capacity as well as support inclusive green growth and climate smart development. Our work on inclusive green growth has shown that—through more efficiency and smarter use of energy and natural resources—many opportunities exist to drastically reduce the climate impact of development, without slowing down poverty alleviation and economic growth. This report is a stark reminder that climate change affects everything. The solutions don’t lie only in climate finance or climate projects. The solutions lie in effective risk management and ensuring all our work, all our thinking, is designed with the threat of a 4°C degree world in mind. The World Bank Group will step up to the challenge. Dr. Jim Yong Kim President, World Bank Group x Executive Summary Executive Summary This report provides a snapshot of recent scientific literature and new analyses of likely impacts and risks that would be asso- ciated with a 4° Celsius warming within this century. It is a rigorous attempt to outline a range of risks, focusing on developing countries and especially the poor. A 4°C world would be one of unprecedented heat waves, severe drought, and major floods in many regions, with serious impacts on ecosystems and associated services. But with action, a 4°C world can be avoided and we can likely hold warming below 2°C. Without further commitments and action to reduce greenhouse Uncertainties remain in projecting the extent of both climate gas emissions, the world is likely to warm by more than 3°C change and its impacts. We take a risk-based approach in which above the preindustrial climate. Even with the current mitigation risk is defined as impact multiplied by probability: an event with commitments and pledges fully implemented, there is roughly a low probability can still pose a high risk if it implies serious 20 percent likelihood of exceeding 4°C by 2100. If they are not consequences. met, a warming of 4°C could occur as early as the 2060s. Such a No nation will be immune to the impacts of climate change. warming level and associated sea-level rise of 0.5 to 1 meter, or However, the distribution of impacts is likely to be inherently more, by 2100 would not be the end point: a further warming to unequal and tilted against many of the world’s poorest regions, levels over 6°C, with several meters of sea-level rise, would likely which have the least economic, institutional, scientific, and tech- occur over the following centuries. nical capacity to cope and adapt. For example: Thus, while the global community has committed itself to • Even though absolute warming will be largest in high latitudes, holding warming below 2°C to prevent “dangerous” climate the warming that will occur in the tropics is larger when com- change, and Small Island Developing states (SIDS) and Least pared to the historical range of temperature and extremes to Developed Countries (LDCs) have identified global warming of which human and natural ecosystems have adapted and coped. 1.5°C as warming above which there would be serious threats to The projected emergence of unprecedented high-temperature their own development and, in some cases, survival, the sum total extremes in the tropics will consequently lead to significantly of current policies—in place and pledged—will very likely lead to larger impacts on agriculture and ecosystems. warming far in excess of these levels. Indeed, present emission trends put the world plausibly on a path toward 4°C warming • Sea-level rise is likely to be 15 to 20 percent larger in the trop- within the century. ics than the global mean. This report is not a comprehensive scientific assessment, as • Increases in tropical cyclone intensity are likely to be felt will be forthcoming from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate disproportionately in low-latitude regions. Change (IPCC) in 2013–14 in its Fifth Assessment Report. It is • Increasing aridity and drought are likely to increase substan- focused on developing countries, while recognizing that developed tially in many developing country regions located in tropical countries are also vulnerable and at serious risk of major damages and subtropical areas. from climate change. A series of recent extreme events worldwide continue to highlight the vulnerability of not only the developing A world in which warming reaches 4°C above preindustrial world but even wealthy industrialized countries. levels (hereafter referred to as a 4°C world), would be one of xiii Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided unprecedented heat waves, severe drought, and major floods in decade. Should this rate remain unchanged, this would mean over many regions, with serious impacts on human systems, ecosystems, 30 cm of additional sea-level rise in the 21st century. and associated services. The warming of the atmosphere and oceans is leading to an Warming of 4°C can still be avoided: numerous studies show accelerating loss of ice from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, that there are technically and economically feasible emissions and this melting could add substantially to sea-level rise in the pathways to hold warming likely below 2°C. Thus the level of future. Overall, the rate of loss of ice has more than tripled since impacts that developing countries and the rest of the world expe- the 1993–2003 period as reported in the IPCC AR4, reaching 1.3 rience will be a result of government, private sector, and civil cm per decade over 2004–08; the 2009 loss rate is equivalent to society decisions and choices, including, unfortunately, inaction. about 1.7 cm per decade. If ice sheet loss continues at these rates, without acceleration, the increase in global average sea level due to this source would be about 15 cm by the end of the 21st century. Observed Impacts and Changes to the A clear illustration of the Greenland ice sheet’s increasing vulner- Climate System ability to warming is the rapid growth in melt area observed since the 1970s. As for Arctic sea ice, it reached a record minimum in The unequivocal effects of greenhouse gas emission–induced September 2012, halving the area of ice covering the Arctic Ocean change on the climate system, reported by IPCC’s Fourth Assess- in summers over the last 30 years. ment Report (AR4) in 2007, have continued to intensify, more or The effects of global warming are also leading to observed less unabated: changes in many other climate and environmental aspects of the Earth system. The last decade has seen an exceptional number of • The concentration of the main greenhouse gas, carbon diox- extreme heat waves around the world with consequential severe ide (CO2), has continued to increase from its preindustrial impacts. Human-induced climate change since the 1960s has concentration of approximately 278 parts per million (ppm) increased the frequency and intensity of heat waves and thus also to over 391 ppm in September 2012, with the rate of rise now likely exacerbated their societal impacts. In some climatic regions, at 1.8 ppm per year. extreme precipitation and drought have increased in intensity and/ • The present CO2 concentration is higher than paleoclimatic or frequency with a likely human influence. An example of a recent and geologic evidence indicates has occurred at any time in extreme heat wave is the Russian heat wave of 2010, which had the last 15 million years. very significant adverse consequences. Preliminary estimates for • Emissions of CO2 are, at present, about 35,000 million metric the 2010 heat wave in Russia put the death toll at 55,000, annual tons per year (including land-use change) and, absent further crop failure at about 25 percent, burned areas at more than 1 policies, are projected to rise to 41,000 million metric tons of million hectares, and economic losses at about US$15 billion (1 CO2 per year in 2020. percent gross domestic product (GDP)). In the absence of climate change, extreme heat waves in Europe, • Global mean temperature has continued to increase and is Russia, and the United States, for example, would be expected to now about 0.8°C above preindustrial levels. occur only once every several hundred years. Observations indicate A global warming of 0.8°C may not seem large, but many a tenfold increase in the surface area of the planet experiencing climate change impacts have already started to emerge, and the extreme heat since the 1950s. shift from 0.8°C to 2°C warming or beyond will pose even greater The area of the Earth’s land surface affected by drought has challenges. It is also useful to recall that a global mean temperature also likely increased substantially over the last 50 years, somewhat increase of 4°C approaches the difference between temperatures faster than projected by climate models. The 2012 drought in the today and those of the last ice age, when much of central Europe United States impacted about 80 percent of agricultural land, and the northern United States were covered with kilometers of ice making it the most severe drought since the 1950s. and global mean temperatures were about 4.5°C to 7°C lower. And Negative effects of higher temperatures have been observed on this magnitude of climate change—human induced—is occurring agricultural production, with recent studies indicating that since over a century, not millennia. the 1980s global maize and wheat production may have been The global oceans have continued to warm, with about 90 reduced significantly compared to a case without climate change. percent of the excess heat energy trapped by the increased green- Effects of higher temperatures on the economic growth of poor house gas concentrations since 1955 stored in the oceans as heat. countries have also been observed over recent decades, suggesting The average increase in sea levels around the world over the 20th a significant risk of further reductions in the economic growth century has been about 15 to 20 centimeters. Over the last decade in poor countries in the future due to global warming. An MIT the average rate of sea-level rise has increased to about 3.2 cm per study1 used historical fluctuations in temperature within countries xiv Execu ti ve Sum m ary to identify its effects on aggregate economic outcomes. It reported and an increase of about 150 percent in acidity of the ocean. The that higher temperatures substantially reduce economic growth in observed and projected rates of change in ocean acidity over the poor countries and have wide-ranging effects, reducing agricultural next century appear to be unparalleled in Earth’s history. Evidence output, industrial output, and political stability. These findings is already emerging of the adverse consequences of acidification inform debates over the climate’s role in economic development for marine organisms and ecosystems, combined with the effects and suggest the possibility of substantial negative impacts of of warming, overfishing, and habitat destruction. higher temperatures on poor countries. Coral reefs in particular are acutely sensitive to changes in water temperatures, ocean pH, and intensity and frequency of tropical cyclones. Reefs provide protection against coastal floods, Projected Climate Change Impacts in a storm surges, and wave damage as well as nursery grounds and 4°C World habitat for many fish species. Coral reef growth may stop as CO2 concentration approaches 450 ppm over the coming decades (cor- The effects of 4°C warming will not be evenly distributed around responding to a warming of about 1.4°C in the 2030s). By the the world, nor would the consequences be simply an extension of time the concentration reaches around 550 ppm (corresponding those felt at 2°C warming. The largest warming will occur over to a warming of about 2.4°C in the 2060s), it is likely that coral land and range from 4°C to 10°C. Increases of 6°C or more in reefs in many areas would start to dissolve. The combination average monthly summer temperatures would be expected in large of thermally induced bleaching events, ocean acidification, and regions of the world, including the Mediterranean, North Africa, sea-level rise threatens large fractions of coral reefs even at 1.5°C the Middle East, and the contiguous United States global warming. The regional extinction of entire coral reef eco- Projections for a 4°C world show a dramatic increase in the systems, which could occur well before 4°C is reached, would intensity and frequency of high-temperature extremes. Recent have profound consequences for their dependent species and for extreme heat waves such as in Russia in 2010 are likely to become the people who depend on them for food, income, tourism, and the new normal summer in a 4°C world. Tropical South America, shoreline protection. central Africa, and all tropical islands in the Pacific are likely to regularly experience heat waves of unprecedented magnitude and duration. In this new high-temperature climate regime, the coolest Rising Sea Levels, Coastal Inundation months are likely to be substantially warmer than the warmest and Loss months at the end of the 20th century. In regions such as the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Tibetan Warming of 4°C will likely lead to a sea-level rise of 0.5 to 1 plateau, almost all summer months are likely to be warmer than meter, and possibly more, by 2100, with several meters more to be the most extreme heat waves presently experienced. For example, realized in the coming centuries. Limiting warming to 2°C would the warmest July in the Mediterranean region could be 9°C warmer likely reduce sea-level rise by about 20 cm by 2100 compared to than today’s warmest July. a 4°C world. However, even if global warming is limited to 2°C, Extreme heat waves in recent years have had severe impacts, global mean sea level could continue to rise, with some estimates causing heat-related deaths, forest fires, and harvest losses. The ranging between 1.5 and 4 meters above present-day levels by the impacts of the extreme heat waves projected for a 4°C world have year 2300. Sea-level rise would likely be limited to below 2 meters not been evaluated, but they could be expected to vastly exceed only if warming were kept to well below 1.5°C. the consequences experienced to date and potentially exceed the Sea-level rise will vary regionally: for a number of geophysically adaptive capacities of many societies and natural systems. determined reasons, it is projected to be up to 20 percent higher in the tropics and below average at higher latitudes. In particular, the melting of the ice sheets will reduce the gravitational pull on Rising CO2 Concentration and Ocean the ocean toward the ice sheets and, as a consequence, ocean Acidification water will tend to gravitate toward the Equator. Changes in wind and ocean currents due to global warming and other factors will Apart from a warming of the climate system, one of the most also affect regional sea-level rise, as will patterns of ocean heat serious consequences of rising carbon dioxide concentration in uptake and warming. the atmosphere occurs when it dissolves in the ocean and results in acidification. A substantial increase in ocean acidity has been 1 Dell, Melissa, Benjamin F. Jones, and Benjamin A. Olken. 2012. “Temperature observed since preindustrial times. A warming of 4°C or more Shocks and Economic Growth: Evidence from the Last Half Century.” American by 2100 would correspond to a CO2 concentration above 800 ppm Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 4(3): 66–95. xv Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Sea-level rise impacts are projected to be asymmetrical even • River basins dominated by a monsoon regime, such as the within regions and countries. Of the impacts projected for 31 Ganges and Nile, are particularly vulnerable to changes in developing countries, only 10 cities account for two-thirds of the the seasonality of runoff, which may have large and adverse total exposure to extreme floods. Highly vulnerable cities are to effects on water availability. be found in Mozambique, Madagascar, Mexico, Venezuela, India, • Mean annual runoff is projected to decrease by 20 to 40 percent Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. in the Danube, Mississippi, Amazon, and Murray Darling river For small island states and river delta regions, rising sea levels basins, but increase by roughly 20 percent in both the Nile are likely to have far ranging adverse consequences, especially and the Ganges basins. when combined with the projected increased intensity of tropical cyclones in many tropical regions, other extreme weather events, All these changes approximately double in magnitude in a and climate change–induced effects on oceanic ecosystems (for 4°C world. example, loss of protective reefs due to temperature increases and The risk for disruptions to ecosystems as a result of ecosystem ocean acidification). shifts, wildfires, ecosystem transformation, and forest dieback would be significantly higher for 4°C warming as compared to reduced amounts. Increasing vulnerability to heat and drought Risks to Human Support Systems: Food, stress will likely lead to increased mortality and species extinction. Water, Ecosystems, and Human Health Ecosystems will be affected by more frequent extreme weather events, such as forest loss due to droughts and wildfire exacerbated Although impact projections for a 4°C world are still preliminary by land use and agricultural expansion. In Amazonia, forest fires and it is often difficult to make comparisons across individual could as much as double by 2050 with warming of approximately assessments, this report identifies a number of extremely severe 1.5°C to 2°C above preindustrial levels. Changes would be expected risks for vital human support systems. With extremes of tempera- to be even more severe in a 4°C world. ture, heat waves, rainfall, and drought are projected to increase In fact, in a 4°C world climate change seems likely to become with warming; risks will be much higher in a 4°C world compared the dominant driver of ecosystem shifts, surpassing habitat to a 2°C world. destruction as the greatest threat to biodiversity. Recent research In a world rapidly warming toward 4°C, the most adverse suggests that large-scale loss of biodiversity is likely to occur in a impacts on water availability are likely to occur in association 4°C world, with climate change and high CO2 concentration driv- with growing water demand as the world population increases. ing a transition of the Earth´s ecosystems into a state unknown Some estimates indicate that a 4°C warming would significantly in human experience. Ecosystem damage would be expected to exacerbate existing water scarcity in many regions, particularly dramatically reduce the provision of ecosystem services on which northern and eastern Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, society depends (for example, fisheries and protection of coast- while additional countries in Africa would be newly confronted line—afforded by coral reefs and mangroves). with water scarcity on a national scale due to population growth. Maintaining adequate food and agricultural output in the • Drier conditions are projected for southern Europe, Africa (except face of increasing population and rising levels of income will be some areas in the northeast), large parts of North America a challenge irrespective of human-induced climate change. The and South America, and southern Australia, among others. IPCC AR4 projected that global food production would increase for local average temperature rise in the range of 1°C to 3°C, but • Wetter conditions are projected in particular for the northern may decrease beyond these temperatures. high latitudes—that is, northern North America, northern New results published since 2007, however, are much less opti- Europe, and Siberia—and in some monsoon regions. Some mistic. These results suggest instead a rapidly rising risk of crop regions may experience reduced water stress compared to a yield reductions as the world warms. Large negative effects have case without climate change. been observed at high and extreme temperatures in several regions • Subseasonal and subregional changes to the hydrological including India, Africa, the United States, and Australia. For example, cycle are associated with severe risks, such as flooding and significant nonlinear effects have been observed in the United drought, which may increase significantly even if annual States for local daily temperatures increasing to 29°C for corn and averages change little. 30°C for soybeans. These new results and observations indicate a significant risk of high-temperature thresholds being crossed that With extremes of rainfall and drought projected to increase could substantially undermine food security globally in a 4°C world. with warming, these risks are expected to be much higher in a Compounding these risks is the adverse effect of projected sea- 4°C world as compared to the 2°C world. In a 2°C world: level rise on agriculture in important low-lying delta areas, such xvi Execu ti ve Sum m ary as in Bangladesh, Egypt, Vietnam, and parts of the African coast. undermined by these pressures and the projected consequences Sea-level rise would likely impact many mid-latitude coastal areas of climate change. and increase seawater penetration into coastal aquifers used for The projected impacts on water availability, ecosystems, agri- irrigation of coastal plains. Further risks are posed by the likeli- culture, and human health could lead to large-scale displacement hood of increased drought in mid-latitude regions and increased of populations and have adverse consequences for human security flooding at higher latitudes. and economic and trade systems. The full scope of damages in a The projected increase in intensity of extreme events in the 4°C world has not been assessed to date. future would likely have adverse implications for efforts to reduce Large-scale and disruptive changes in the Earth system are poverty, particularly in developing countries. Recent projections generally not included in modeling exercises, and rarely in impact suggest that the poor are especially sensitive to increases in assessments. As global warming approaches and exceeds 2°C, the drought intensity in a 4°C world, especially across Africa, South risk of crossing thresholds of nonlinear tipping elements in the Asia, and other regions. Earth system, with abrupt climate change impacts and unprec- Large-scale extreme events, such as major floods that interfere edented high-temperature climate regimes, increases. Examples with food production, could also induce nutritional deficits and include the disintegration of the West Antarctic ice sheet leading the increased incidence of epidemic diseases. Flooding can intro- to more rapid sea-level rise than projected in this analysis or duce contaminants and diseases into healthy water supplies and large-scale Amazon dieback drastically affecting ecosystems, riv- increase the incidence of diarrheal and respiratory illnesses. The ers, agriculture, energy production, and livelihoods in an almost effects of climate change on agricultural production may exacerbate continental scale region and potentially adding substantially to under-nutrition and malnutrition in many regions—already major 21st-century global warming. contributors to child mortality in developing countries. Whilst eco- There might also be nonlinear responses within particular nomic growth is projected to significantly reduce childhood stunt- economic sectors to high levels of global warming. For example, ing, climate change is projected to reverse these gains in a number nonlinear temperature effects on crops are likely to be extremely of regions: substantial increases in stunting due to malnutrition relevant as the world warms to 2°C and above. However, most of are projected to occur with warming of 2°C to 2.5°C, especially our current crop models do not yet fully account for this effect, in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and this is likely to get or for the potential increased ranges of variability (for example, worse at 4°C. Despite significant efforts to improve health services extreme temperatures, new invading pests and diseases, abrupt (for example, improved medical care, vaccination development, shifts in critical climate factors that have large impacts on yields surveillance programs), significant additional impacts on poverty and/or quality of grains). levels and human health are expected. Changes in temperature, Projections of damage costs for climate change impacts typically precipitation rates, and humidity influence vector-borne diseases assess the costs of local damages, including infrastructure, and do not (for example, malaria and dengue fever) as well as hantaviruses, provide an adequate consideration of cascade effects (for example, leishmaniasis, Lyme disease, and schistosomiasis. value-added chains and supply networks) at national and regional Further health impacts of climate change could include injuries scales. However, in an increasingly globalized world that experi- and deaths due to extreme weather events. Heat-amplified levels of ences further specialization in production systems, and thus higher smog could exacerbate respiratory disorders and heart and blood dependency on infrastructure to deliver produced goods, damages vessel diseases, while in some regions climate change–induced to infrastructure systems can lead to substantial indirect impacts. increases in concentrations of aeroallergens (pollens, spores) could Seaports are an example of an initial point where a breakdown amplify rates of allergic respiratory disorders. or substantial disruption in infrastructure facilities could trigger impacts that reach far beyond the particular location of the loss. The cumulative and interacting effects of such wide-ranging Risks of Disruptions and Displacements impacts, many of which are likely to be felt well before 4°C warm- in a 4°C World ing, are not well understood. For instance, there has not been a study published in the scientific literature on the full ecological, Climate change will not occur in a vacuum. Economic growth human, and economic consequences of a collapse of coral reef and population increases over the 21st century will likely add ecosystems, much less when combined with the likely concomitant to human welfare and increase adaptive capacity in many, if loss of marine production due to rising ocean temperatures and not most, regions. At the same time, however, there will also increasing acidification, and the large-scale impacts on human be increasing stresses and demands on a planetary ecosystem settlements and infrastructure in low-lying fringe coastal zones already approaching critical limits and boundaries. The resil- that would result from sea-level rise of a meter or more this cen- ience of many natural and managed ecosystems is likely to be tury and beyond. xvii Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided As the scale and number of impacts grow with increasing global controlled, adaptive migration, resulting in the need for complete mean temperature, interactions between them might increasingly abandonment of an island or region. Similarly, stresses on human occur, compounding overall impact. For example, a large shock to health, such as heat waves, malnutrition, and decreasing quality agricultural production due to extreme temperatures across many of drinking water due to seawater intrusion, have the potential regions, along with substantial pressure on water resources and to overburden health-care systems to a point where adaptation is changes in the hydrological cycle, would likely impact both human no longer possible, and dislocation is forced. health and livelihoods. This could, in turn, cascade into effects on Thus, given that uncertainty remains about the full nature economic development by reducing a population´s work capacity, and scale of impacts, there is also no certainty that adaptation to which would then hinder growth in GDP. a 4°C world is possible. A 4°C world is likely to be one in which With pressures increasing as warming progresses toward communities, cities and countries would experience severe disrup- 4°C and combining with nonclimate–related social, economic, tions, damage, and dislocation, with many of these risks spread and population stresses, the risk of crossing critical social system unequally. It is likely that the poor will suffer most and the global thresholds will grow. At such thresholds existing institutions that community could become more fractured, and unequal than would have supported adaptation actions would likely become today. The projected 4°C warming simply must not be allowed much less effective or even collapse. One example is a risk to occur—the heat must be turned down. Only early, cooperative, that sea-level rise in atoll countries exceeds the capabilities of international actions can make that happen. xviii Abbreviations °C degrees Celsius AIS Antarctic Ice Sheet AOGCM Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Model AOSIS Alliance of Small Island States AR4 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change AR5 Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change BAU Business as Usual CaCO3 Calcium Carbonate cm Centimeter CMIP5 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 CO2 Carbon Dioxide CO2e Carbon Dioxide Equivalent DIVA Dynamic Interactive Vulnerability Assessment DJF December January February GCM General Circulation Model GDP Gross Domestic Product GIS Greenland Ice Sheet GtCO2e Gigatonnes—billion metric tons—of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent IAM Integrated Assessment Model IBAU “IMAGE (Model) Business As Usual” Scenario (Hinkel et al. 2011) ISI-MIP Inter-Sectoral Model Inter-comparison Project IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change JJA June July August LDC Least Developed Country MGIC Mountain Glaciers and Ice Caps NH Northern Hemisphere NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (United States) OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development PG Population Growth PGD Population Growth Distribution ppm Parts per Million RBAU “Rahmstorf Business As Usual” Scenario (Hinkel et al. 2011) RCP Representative Concentration Pathway SH Southern Hemisphere SLR Sea-Level Rise SRES IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios SREX IPCC Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation SSA Sub-Saharan Africa UNFCCC United National Framework Convention on Climate Change WBG World Bank Group WBGT Wet-Bulb Global Temperature WDR World Development Report WHO World Health Organization xix Chapter 1 Introduction Since the 2009 Climate Convention Conference in Copenhagen, the internationally agreed climate goal has been to hold global mean warming below a 2°C increase above the preindustrial climate. At the same time that the Copenhagen Confer- ence adopted this goal, it also agreed that this limit would be reviewed in the 2013–15 period, referencing in particular the 1.5°C increase limit that the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and the least developed countries (LDCs) put forward. While the global community has committed itself to holding • Increasing aridity, drought, and extreme temperatures in many warming below 2°C to prevent “dangerous” climate change, the regions, including Africa, southern Europe and the Middle East, sum total of current policies—in place and pledged—will very most of the Americas, Australia, and Southeast Asia likely lead to warming far in excess of this level. Indeed, present • Rapid ocean acidification with wide-ranging, adverse implica- emission trends put the world plausibly on a path toward 4°C tions for marine species and entire ecosystems warming within this century. Levels greater than 4°C warming could be possible within • Increasing threat to large-scale ecosystems, such as coral reefs this century should climate sensitivity be higher, or the carbon and a large part of the Amazon rain forest cycle and other climate system feedbacks more positive, than Various climatic extremes can be expected to change in intensity anticipated. Current scientific evidence suggests that even with or frequency, including heat waves, intense rainfall events and the current commitments and pledges fully implemented, there related floods, and tropical cyclone intensity. is roughly a 20 percent likelihood of exceeding 4°C by 2100, and There is an increasing risk of substantial impacts with a 10 percent chance of 4°C being exceeded as early as the 2070s. consequences on a global scale, for example, concerning food Warming would not stop there. Because of the slow response production. A new generation of studies is indicating adverse of the climate system, the greenhouse gas emissions and con- impacts of observed warming on crop production regionally and centrations that would lead to warming of 4°C by 2100 would globally (for example, Lobell et al. 2011). When factored into actually commit the world to much higher warming, exceeding analyses of expected food availability under global warming 6°C or more, in the long term, with several meters of sea-level scenarios, these results indicate a greater sensitivity to warm- rise ultimately associated with this warming (Rogelj et al. 2012; ing than previously estimated, pointing to larger risks for global IEA 2012; Schaeffer & van Vuuren 2012). and regional food production than in earlier assessments. Such Improvements in knowledge have reinforced the findings of potential factors have yet to be fully accounted for in global risk the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental assessments, and if realized in practice, would have substantial Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), especially with respect to an consequences for many sectors and systems, including human increasing risk of rapid, abrupt, and irreversible change with health, human security, and development prospects in already high levels of warming. These risks include, but are not limited, vulnerable regions. There is also a growing literature on the to the following: potential for cascades of impacts or hotspots of impacts, where impacts projected for different sectors converge spatially. The • Meter-scale sea-level rise by 2100 caused by the rapid loss of increasing fragility of natural and managed ecosystems and their ice from Greenland and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet services is in turn expected to diminish the resilience of global 1 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided socioeconomic systems, leaving them more vulnerable to noncli- in precipitation that may lead to droughts or floods, and changes matic stressors and shocks, such as emerging pandemics, trade in the incidence of extreme tropical cyclones. Chapters 4 and 5 disruptions, or financial market shocks (for example, Barnosky provide an analysis of projected sea-level rise and increases in et al. 2012; Rockström et al. 2009). heat extremes, respectively. Chapter 6 discusses the implications This context has generated a discussion in the scientific com- of projected climate changes and other factors for society, specifi- munity over the implications of 4°C, or greater, global warming cally in the sectors of agriculture, water resources, ecosystems, for human societies and natural ecosystems (New et al. 2011). and human health. Chapter 7 provides an outlook on the potential The IPCC AR4 in 2007 provided an overview of the impacts and risks of nonlinear impacts and identifies where scientists’ under- vulnerabilities projected up to, and including, this level of global standing of a 4°C world is still very limited. mean warming. The results of this analysis confirm that global Uncertainties remain in both climate change and impact mean warming of 4°C would result in far-reaching and profound projections. This report takes a risk-based approach where risk changes to the climate system, including oceans, atmosphere, is defined as impact times probability: an event with low prob- and cryosphere, as well as natural ecosystems—and pose major ability can still pose a high risk if it implies serious consequences. challenges to human systems. The impacts of these changes are While not explicitly addressing the issue of adaptation, the likely to be severe and to undermine sustainable development report provides a basis for further investigation into the potential prospects in many regions. Nevertheless, it is also clear that the and limits of adaptive capacity in the developing world. Developed assessments to date of the likely consequences of 4°C global mean countries are also vulnerable and at serious risk of major dam- warming are limited, may not capture some of the major risks and ages from climate change. However, as this report reflects, the may not accurately account for society’s capacity to adapt. There distribution of impacts is likely to be inherently unequal and tilted have been few systematic attempts to understand and quantify the against many of the world’s poorest regions, which have the least differences of climate change impacts for various levels of global economic, institutional, scientific, and technical capacity to cope warming across sectors. and adapt proactively. The low adaptive capacity of these regions This report provides a snapshot of recent scientific literature in conjunction with the disproportionate burden of impacts places and new analyses of likely impacts and risks that would be them among the most vulnerable parts of the world. associated with a 4°C warming within this century. It is a rigor- The World Development Report 2010 (World Bank Group ous attempt to outline a range of risks, focusing on developing 2010a) reinforced the findings of the IPCC AR4: the impacts of countries, especially the poor. climate change will undermine development efforts, which calls This report is not a comprehensive scientific assessment, as into question whether the Millennium Development Goals can will be forthcoming from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate be achieved in a warming world. This report is, thus, intended Change (IPCC) in 2013/14 in its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). It to provide development practitioners with a brief sketch of the is focused on developing countries while recognizing that devel- challenges a warming of 4°C above preindustrial levels (hereafter, oped countries are also vulnerable and at serious risk of major referred to as a 4°C world) would pose, as a prelude to further damages from climate change. and deeper examination. It should be noted that this does not Chapter 2 summarizes some of the observed changes to the imply a scenario in which global mean temperature is stabilized Earth’s climate system and their impacts on human society that by the end of the century. are already being observed. Chapter 3 provides some background Given the uncertainty of adaptive capacity in the face of on the climate scenarios referred to in this report and discusses unprecedented climate change impacts, the report simultaneously the likelihood of a 4°C warming. It also examines projections for serves as a call for further mitigation action as the best insurance the coming century on the process of ocean acidification, changes against an uncertain future. 2 Chapter 2 Observed Climate Changes and Impacts There is a growing and well-documented body of evidence regarding observed changes in the climate system and impacts that can be attributed to human-induced climate change. What follows is a snapshot of some of the most important observa- tions. For a full overview, the reader is referred to recent comprehensive reports, such as State of the Climate 2011, published by the American Metrological Society in cooperation with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (Blunden et al. 2012). The Rise of CO2 Concentrations and Figure 1: Atmospheric CO2 concentrations at Mauna Loa Emissions Observatory. In order to investigate the hypothesis that atmospheric CO2 con- centration influences the Earth’s climate, as proposed by John Tyndall (Tyndall 1861), Charles D. Keeling made systematic mea- surements of atmospheric CO2 emissions in 1958 at the Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii (Keeling et al. 1976; Pales & Keeling 1965). Located on the slope of a volcano 3,400 m above sea level and remote from external sources and sinks of carbon dioxide, the site was identified as suitable for long-term measurements (Pales and Keeling 1965), which continue to the present day. Results show an increase from 316 ppm (parts per million) in March 1958 to 391 ppm in September 2012. Figure 1 shows the measured carbon dioxide data (red curve) and the annual average CO2 concentrations in the period 1958–2012. The seasonal oscillation shown on the red curve reflects the growth of plants in the Northern Hemisphere, which store more CO2 during the boreal spring and summer than is respired, effectively taking up carbon from the atmosphere (Pales and Keeling 1965). Based on ice-core measurements,2 pre- industrial CO2 concentrations have been shown to have been in 2 The report adopts 1750 for defining CO concentrations. For global mean tem- the range of 260 to 280 ppm (Indermühle 1999). Geological and 2 perature pre-industrial is defined as from mid-19th century. paleo-climatic evidence makes clear that the present atmospheric 3 Different conventions are used are used in the science and policy communities. CO2 concentrations are higher than at any time in the last 15 mil- When discussing CO2 emissions it is very common to refer to CO2 emissions by the weight of carbon—3.67 metric tons of CO2 contains 1 metric ton of carbon, whereas lion years (Tripati, Roberts, and Eagle 2009). when CO2 equivalent emissions are discussed, the CO2 (not carbon) equivalent is Since 1959, approximately 350 billion metric tons of carbon almost universally used. In this case 350 billion metric tons of carbon is equivalent (or GtC)3 have been emitted through human activity, of which 55 to 1285 billion metric tons of CO2. 5 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Figure 2: Global CO2 (a) and total greenhouse gases (b) historic (solid lines) and projected (dashed lines) emissions. CO2 data source: PRIMAP4BISa baseline and greenhouse gases data source: Climate Action Trackerb. Global pathways include emissions from international transport. Pledges ranges in (b) consist of the current best estimates of pledges put forward by countries and range from minimum ambition, unconditional pledges, and lenient rules to maximum ambition, conditional pledges, and more strict rules. A. B. a https://sites.google.com/a/primap.org/www/the-primap-model/documentation/baselines b http://climateactiontracker.org/ percent has been taken up by the oceans and land, with the rest emerges after removal of known factors that affect short-term tempera- remaining in the atmosphere (Ballantyne et al. 2012). Figure 2a ture variations. These factors include solar variability and volcanic shows that CO2 emissions are rising. Absent further policy, global aerosol effects, along with the El Niño/Southern oscillation events CO2 emissions (including emissions related to deforestation) will (Figure 3). A suite of studies, as reported by the IPCC, confirms that reach 41 billion metric tons of CO2 per year in 2020. Total green- the observed warming cannot be explained by natural factors alone house gases will rise to 56 GtCO2e4 in 2020, if no further climate and thus can largely be attributed to anthropogenic influence (for action is taken between now and 2020 (in a “business-as-usual” example, Santer et al 1995; Stott et al. 2000). In fact, the IPCC (2007) scenario). If current pledges are fully implemented, global total states that during the last 50 years “the sum of solar and volcanic greenhouse gases emissions in 2020 are likely to be between 53 forcings would likely have produced cooling, not warming”, a result and 55 billion metric tons CO2e per year (Figure 2b). which is confirmed by more recent work (Wigley and Santer 2012). Rising Global Mean Temperature Increasing Ocean Heat Storage The Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental While the warming of the surface temperature of the Earth is perhaps Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that the rise in global mean one of the most noticeable changes, approximately 93 percent of temperature and warming of the climate system were “unequivo- the additional heat absorbed by the Earth system resulting from cal.” Furthermore, “most of the observed increase in global average an increase in greenhouse gas concentration since 1955 is stored temperature since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentra- 4 Total greenhouse gas emissions (CO e) are calculated by multiplying emissions tions” (Solomon, Miller et al. 2007). Recent work reinforces this 2 of each greenhouse gas by its Global Warming Potential (GWPs), a measure that conclusion. Global mean warming is now approximately 0.8°C compares the integrated warming effect of greenhouses to a common base (carbon above preindustrial levels.5 dioxide) on a specified time horizon. This report applies 100-year GWPs from IPCC’s Second Assessment Report, to be consistent with countries reporting national com- The emergence of a robust warming signal over the last three munications to the UNFCCC. decades is very clear, as has been shown in a number of studies. 5 See HadCRUT3v: http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/temperature/ and (Jones For example, Foster and Rahmstorf (2011) show the clear signal that et al. 2012). 6 Obse rved C li mate C h anges and I m pacts Figure 3: Temperature data from different sources (GISS: NASA in the ocean. Recent work by Levitus and colleagues (Levitus et al. Goddard Institute for Space Studies GISS; NCDC: NOAA National 2012) extends the finding of the IPCC AR4. The observed warming Climate Data Center; CRU: Hadley Center/ Climate Research Unit UK; of the world’s oceans “can only be explained by the increase in RSS: data from Remote Sensing Systems; UAH: University of Alabama atmospheric greenhouse gases.” The strong trend of increasing at Huntsville) corrected for short-term temperature variability. When the ocean heat content continues (Figure 4). Between 1955 and 2010 data are adjusted to remove the estimated impact of known factors on the world’s oceans, to a depth of 2000 meters, have warmed on short-term temperature variations (El Nino/Southern Oscillation, volcanic average by 0.09°C. aerosols and solar variability), the global warming signal becomes evident. In concert with changes in marine chemistry, warming waters are expected to adversely affect fisheries, particularly in tropical regions as stocks migrate away from tropical countries towards cooler waters (Sumaila 2010). Furthermore, warming surface waters can enhance stratification, potentially limiting nutrient availability to primary producers. Another particularly severe consequence of increasing ocean warming could be the expan- sion of ocean hypoxic zones,6 ultimately interfering with global ocean production and damaging marine ecosystems. Reductions in the oxygenation zones of the ocean are already occurring, and in some ocean basins have been observed to reduce the habitat for tropical pelagic fishes, such as tuna (Stramma et al. 2011). Rising Sea Levels Sea levels are rising as a result of anthropogenic climate warm- ing. This rise in sea levels is caused by thermal expansion of the Source: Foster and Rahmstorf 2012. oceans and by the addition of water to the oceans as a result of the melting and discharge of ice from mountain glaciers and ice caps and from the much larger Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. A significant fraction of the world population is settled Figure 4: The increase in total ocean heat content from the surface along coastlines, often in large cities with extensive infrastructure, to 2000 m, based on running five-year analyses. Reference period is making sea-level rise potentially one of the most severe long-term 1955–2006. The black line shows the increasing heat content at depth (700 to 2000 m), illustrating a significant and rising trend, while most of the heat remains in the top 700 m of the ocean. Vertical bars and shaded 6 The ocean hypoxic zone is a layer in the ocean with very low oxygen concentra- area represent +/–2 standard deviations about the five-year estimate for tion (also called OMZ – Oxygen Minimum Zone), due to stratification of vertical layers (limited vertical mixing) and high activity of microbes, which consume oxygen respective depths. in processing organic material deposited from oxygen-rich shallower ocean layers with high biological activity. An hypoxic zone that expands upwards to shallower ocean layers, as observed, poses problems for zooplankton that hides in this zone for predators during daytime, while also compressing the oxygen-rich surface zone above, thereby stressing bottom-dwelling organisms, as well as pelagic (open-sea) species. Recent observations and modeling suggest the hypoxic zones globally expand upward (Stramma et al 2008; Rabalais 2010) with increased ocean-surface temperatures, precipitation and/or river runoff, which enhances stratification, as well as changes in ocean circulation that limit transport from colder, oxygen-rich waters into tropical areas and finally the direct outgassing of oxygen, as warmer waters contain less dissolved oxygen. “Hypoxic events” are created by wind changes that drive surface waters off shore, which are replaced by deeper waters from the hypoxic zones entering the continental shelves, or by the rich nutrient content of such waters stimulating local plankton blooms that consume oxygen when abruptly dying and decomposing. The hypoxic zones have also expanded near the continents due to increased fertilizer deposition by precipitation and direct influx of fertilizers transported by continental runoff, increasing the microbe activity creating the hypoxic zones. Whereas climate change might enhance precipitation and runoff, other human Source: Levitus et al. 2012. activities might enhance, or suppress fertilizer use, as well as runoff. 7 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided impacts of climate change, depending upon the rate and ultimate Figure 5: Global mean sea level (GMSL) reconstructed from tide- magnitude of the rise. gauge data (blue, red) and measured from satellite altimetry (black). Substantial progress has been made since the IPCC AR4 in the The blue and red dashed envelopes indicate the uncertainty, which quantitative understanding of sea-level rise, especially closure of grows as one goes back in time, because of the decreasing number of the sea-level rise budget. Updated estimates and reconstructions tide gauges. Blue is the current reconstruction to be compared with one of sea-level rise, based on tidal gauges and more recently, satel- from 2006. Source: Church and White 2011. Note the scale is in mm of lite observations, confirm the findings of the AR4 (Figure 5) and sea-level-rise—divide by 10 to convert to cm. indicate a sea-level rise of more than 20 cm since preindustrial times7 to 2009 (Church and White 2011). The rate of sea-level rise was close to 1.7 mm/year (equivalent to 1.7 cm/decade) during the 20th century, accelerating to about 3.2 mm/year (equivalent to 3.2 cm/decade) on average since the beginning of the 1990s (Meyssignac and Cazenave 2012). In the IPCC AR4, there were still large uncertainties regarding the share of the various contributing factors to sea-level rise, with the sum of individually estimated components accounting for less than the total observed sea-level rise. Agreement on the quantita- tive contribution has improved and extended to the 1972–2008 period using updated observational estimates (Church et al. 2011) (Figure 6): over that period, the largest contributions have come from thermal expansion (0.8 mm/year or 0.8 cm/decade), mountain glaciers, and ice caps (0.7 mm/year or 0.7 cm/decade), followed by the ice sheets (0.4 mm/year or 0.4 cm/decade). The Source: Church and White (2011). study by Church et al. (2011) concludes that the human influence on the hydrological cycle through dam building (negative con- tribution as water is retained on land) and groundwater mining (positive contribution because of a transfer from land to ocean) a clear break in the historical record for North Carolina, starting contributed negatively (–0.1 mm/year or –0.1 cm/decade), to in the late 19th century (Figure 8). This picture is replicated in sea-level change over this period. The acceleration of sea-level other locations globally. rise over the last two decades is mostly explained by an increas- ing land-ice contribution from 1.1 cm/decade over 1972–2008 period to 1.7 cm/decade over 1993–2008 (Church et al. 2011), in Increasing Loss of Ice from Greenland particular because of the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic and Antarctica ice sheets, as discussed in the next section. The rate of land ice contribution to sea level rise has increased by about a factor of Both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have been losing mass three since the 1972–1992 period. since at least the early 1990s. The IPCC AR4 (Chapter 5.5.6 in work- There are significant regional differences in the rates of observed ing group 1) reported 0.41 ±0.4 mm/year as the rate of sea-level sea-level rise because of a range of factors, including differential rise from the ice sheets for the period 1993–2003, while a more heating of the ocean, ocean dynamics (winds and currents), recent estimate by Church et al. in 2011 gives 1.3 ±0.4 mm/year for and the sources and geographical location of ice melt, as well as the period 2004–08. The rate of mass loss from the ice sheets has subsidence or uplifting of continental margins. Figure 7 shows thus risen over the last two decades as estimated from a combina- reconstructed sea level, indicating that many tropical ocean regions tion of satellite gravity measurements, satellite sensors, and mass have experienced faster than global average increases in sea-level balance methods (Velicogna 2009; Rignot et al. 2011). At present, rise. The regional patterns of sea-level rise will vary according the losses of ice are shared roughly equally between Greenland to the different causes contributing to it. This is an issue that is and Antarctica. In their recent review of observations (Figure 9), explored in the regional projections of sea-level rise later in this report (see Chapter 4). 7 While the reference period used for climate projections in this report is the pre- Longer-term sea-level rise reconstructions help to locate the industrial period (circa 1850s), we reference sea-level rise changes with respect to contemporary rapid rise within the context of the last few thousand contemporary base years (for example, 1980–1999 or 2000), because the attribution years. The record used by Kemp et al. (2011), for example, shows of past sea-level rise to different potential causal factors is difficult. 8 Obse rved C li mate C h anges and I m pacts Figure 6: Left panel (a): The contributions of land ice (mountain glaciers and ice caps and Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets), thermosteric sea- level rise, and terrestrial storage (the net effects of groundwater extraction and dam building), as well as observations from tide gauges (since 1961) and satellite observations (since 1993). Right panel (b): the sum of the individual contributions approximates the observed sea-level rise since the 1970s. The gaps in the earlier period could be caused by errors in observations. Source: Church et al., 2011. Rignot and colleagues (Rignot et al. 2011) point out that if the pres- continues, but without further acceleration, there would be a 13 ent acceleration continues, the ice sheets alone could contribute cm contribution by 2100 from these ice sheets. Note that these up to 56 cm to sea-level rise by 2100. If the present-day loss rate numbers are simple extrapolations in time of currently observed 1.0 A 0.8 and, therefore, cannot provide limiting estimates for projec- trends Temperature ( C) tions0.6 about what could happen by 2100. HADCrutv3 0.4 Instrumental Record Observations from the pre-satellite era, complemented by Figure 7: Reconstruction of regional sea-level rise rates for the 0.2 regional 0.0 climate modeling, indicate that the Greenland ice sheet period 1952–2009, during which the average sea-level rise rate was 1.8 -0.2 moderately contributed EIV Global sea-level rise in the 1960s until early to Reconstruction (Land + Ocean) mm per year (equivalent to 1.8 cm/decade). Black stars denote the 91 -0.4 (Mann et al., 2008) tide gauges used in the global sea-level reconstruction. 0.0 B Relative Sea Level (m MSL) 0.0 RSL (m MSL) -0.5 -0.2 (inset) -1.0 -0.4 -1.5 1860 8: The Figure 1940 Carolina 1900 North 1980 sea-level record reconstructed for the Year (AD) past late 19th 2,000 years. The period after theTide-gauge -2.0 shows the clear centuryReconstructions records Sand Point effect of human induced sea-level rise. North Carolina -2.5 Charleston, SC Tump Point C Summary of North Carolina sea-level Sand Point GIA Adjusted Sea Level (m) reconstruction (1 and 2σ error bands) 0.2 Tump Point Change Point 0.0 -0.2 1865-1892 1274 -1476 -0.4 853-1076 0mm/yr +0.6mm/yr -0.1mm/yr +2.1 0 500 1000 1500 2000 Year (AD) Source: Becker et al. 2012. Source: Kemp et al. 2011. 9 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Figure 9: Total ice sheet mass balance, dM/dt, between 1992 and 1970s, but was in balance until the early 1990s, when it started los- 2010 for (a) Greenland, (b) Antarctica, and c) the sum of Greenland ing mass again, more vigorously (Rignot, Box, Burgess, and Hanna and Antarctica, in Gt/year from the Mass Budget Method (MBM) (solid 2008). Earlier observations from aerial photography in southeast black circle) and GRACE time-variable gravity (solid red triangle), with Greenland indicate widespread glacier retreat in the 1930s, when associated error bars. air temperatures increased at a rate similar to present (Bjørk et al. 2012). At that time, many land-terminating glaciers retreated more rapidly than in the 2000s, whereas marine terminating glaciers, which drain more of the inland ice, experienced a more rapid retreat in the recent period in southeast Greenland. Bjørk and colleagues note that this observation may have implications for estimating the future sea-level rise contribution of Greenland. Recent observations indicate that mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet is presently equally shared between increased surface melting and increased dynamic ice discharge into the ocean (Van den Broeke et al. 2009). While it is clear that surface melting will continue to increase under global warming, there has been more debate regarding the fate of dynamic ice discharge, for which physical understanding is still limited. Many marine-terminating glaciers have accelerated (near doubling of the flow speed) and retreated since the late 1990s (Moon, Joughin, Smith, and Howat 2012; Rignot and Kanagaratnam 2006). A consensus has emerged that these retreats are triggered at the terminus of the glaciers, for example when a floating ice tongue breaks up (Nick, Vieli, Howat, and Joughin 2009). Observations of intrusion of relatively warm ocean water into Greenland fjords (Murray et al. 2010; Straneo et al. 2010) support this view. Another potential explanation of the recent speed-up, namely basal melt-water lubrication,8 seems not to be a central mechanism, in light of recent observations (Sundal et al. 2011) and theory (Schoof 2010). Increased surface melting mainly occurs at the margin of the ice sheet, where low elevation permits relatively warm air tem- peratures. While the melt area on Greenland has been increasing since the 1970s (Mernild, Mote, and Liston 2011), recent work also shows a period of enhanced melting occurred from the early 1920s to the early 1960s. The present melt area is similar in magnitude as in this earlier period. There are indications that the greatest melt extent in the past 225 years has occurred in the last decade (Frauenfeld, Knappenberger, and Michaels 2011). The extreme surface melt in early July 2012, when an estimated 97 percent of the ice sheet surface had thawed by July 12 (Figure 10), rather than the typical pattern of thawing around the ice sheet’s margin, represents an uncommon but not unprecedented event. Ice cores from the central part of the ice sheet show that similar thawing has occurred historically, with the last event being dated to 1889 and previous ones several centuries earlier (Nghiem et al. 2012). 8 When temperatures rise above zero for sustained periods, melt water from surface Source: E. Rignot, Velicogna, Broeke, Monaghan, and Lenaerts 2011. melt ponds intermittently flows down to the base of the ice sheet through crevasses and can lubricate the contact between ice and bedrock, leading to enhanced sliding and dynamic discharge. 10 Obse rved C li mate C h anges and I m pacts Figure 10: Greenland surface melt measurements from three Figure 11: Observed changes in ocean acidity (pH) compared to satellites on July 8 (left panel) and July 12 (right panel), 2012. concentration of carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater (p CO2) alongside the atmospheric CO2 record from 1956. A decrease in pH indicates an increase in acidity. Source: NOAA 2012, PMEL Carbon Program. the context of warming and a decrease in dissolved oxygen in the Source: NASA 2012. world’s oceans. In the geological past, such observed changes in pH have often been associated with large-scale extinction events (Honisch et al. 2012). These changes in pH are projected The Greenland ice sheet’s increasing vulnerability to warming is to increase in the future. The rate of changes in overall ocean apparent in the trends and events reported here—the rapid growth biogeochemistry currently observed and projected appears to in melt area observed since the 1970s and the record surface melt be unparalleled in Earth history (Caldeira and Wickett 2003; in early July 2012. Honisch et al. 2012). Critically, the reaction of CO2 with seawater reduces the availability of carbonate ions that are used by various marine Ocean Acidification biota for skeleton and shell formation in the form of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Surface waters are typically supersaturated The oceans play a major role as one of the Earth´s large CO2 sinks. with aragonite (a mineral form of CaCO3), favoring the forma- As atmospheric CO2 rises, the oceans absorb additional CO2 in an tion of shells and skeletons. If saturation levels are below a value attempt to restore the balance between uptake and release at the of 1.0, the water is corrosive to pure aragonite and unprotected oceans’ surface. They have taken up approximately 25 percent of aragonite shells (Feely, Sabine, Hernandez-Ayon, Ianson, and anthropogenic CO2 emissions in the period 2000–06 (Canadell et al. Hales 2008). Because of anthropogenic CO2 emissions, the levels 2007). This directly impacts ocean biogeochemistry as CO2 reacts at which waters become undersaturated with respect to aragonite with water to eventually form a weak acid, resulting in what has have become shallower when compared to preindustrial levels. been termed “ocean acidification.” Indeed, such changes have been Aragonite saturation depths have been calculated to be 100 to 200 observed in waters across the globe. For the period 1750–1994, a m shallower in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, while in the decrease in surface pH9 of 0.1 pH has been calculated (Figure 11), Pacific they are between 30 and 80 m shallower south of 38°S which corresponds to a 30 percent increase in the concentration and between 30 and 100 m north of 3°N (Feely et al. 2004). In of the hydrogen ion (H+) in seawater (Raven 2005). Observed upwelling areas, which are often biologically highly productive, increases in ocean acidity are more pronounced at higher latitudes undersaturation levels have been observed to be shallow enough than in the tropics or subtropics (Bindoff et al. 2007). for corrosive waters to be upwelled intermittently to the surface. Acidification of the world’s oceans because of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration is, thus, one of the most tangible consequences of CO2 emissions and rising CO2 concentration. 9 Measure of acidity. Decreasing pH indicates increasing acidity and is on a loga- Ocean acidification is occurring and will continue to occur, in rithmic scale; hence a small change in pH represents quite a large physical change. 11 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Figure 12: Geographical overview of the record reduction in Without the higher atmospheric CO2 concentration caused by September’s sea ice extent compared to the median distribution for the human activities, this would very likely not be the case (Fabry, period 1979–2000. Seibel, Feely, and Orr 2008). Loss of Arctic Sea Ice Arctic sea ice reached a record minimum in September 2012 (Figure 12). This represents a record since at least the beginning of reliable satellite measurements in 1973, while other assessments estimate that it is a minimum for about at least the last 1,500 years (Kinnard et al. 2011). The linear trend of September sea ice extent since the beginning of the satellite record indicates a loss of 13 percent per decade, the 2012 record being equivalent to an approximate halving of the ice covered area of the Arctic Ocean within the last three decades. Apart from the ice covered area, ice thickness is a relevant indicator for the loss of Arctic sea ice. The area of thicker ice (that is, older than two years) is decreasing, making the entire ice cover more vulnerable to such weather events as the 2012 August storm, which broke the large area into smaller pieces that melted relatively rapidly (Figure 13). Recent scientific studies consistently confirm that the observed degree of extreme Arctic sea ice loss can only be explained by anthropogenic climate change. While a variety of factors have influenced Arctic sea ice during Earth’s history (for example, changes in summer insolation because of varia- Source: NASA 2012. tions in the Earth’s orbital parameters or natural variability of wind patterns), these factors can be excluded as causes for the Figure 13: Left panel: Arctic sea ice extent for 2007–12, with the 1979–2000 average in dark grey; light grey shading represents two standard deviations. Right panel: Changes in multiyear ice from 1983 to 2012. Source: NASA 2012. Credits (right panel): NSIDC (2012) and M. Tschudi and J. Maslanik, University of Colorado Boulder. 12 Obse rved C li mate C h anges and I m pacts Figure 14: Russia 2010 and United States 2012 heat wave temperature anomalies as measured by satellites. Source: NASA Earth Observatory 2012. recently observed trend (Min, Zhang, Zwiers, and Agnew 2008; Figure 15: Distribution (top panel) and timeline (bottom) of Notz and Marotzke 2012). European summer temperatures since 1500. Apart from severe consequences for the Arctic ecosystem and human populations associated with them, among the potential impacts of the loss of Arctic sea ice are changes in the dominating air pressure systems. Since the heat exchange between ocean and atmosphere increases as the ice disappears, large-scale wind patterns can change and extreme winters in Europe may become more frequent (Francis and Vavrus 2012; Jaiser, Dethloff, Handorf, Rinke, and Cohen 2012; Petoukhov and Semenov 2010). Heat Waves and Extreme Temperatures The past decade has seen an exceptional number of extreme heat waves around the world that each caused severe societal impacts (Coumou and Rahmstorf 2012). Examples of such events include the European heat wave of 2003 (Stott et al. 2004), the Greek heat wave of 2007 (Founda and Giannaopoulos 2009), the Australian heat wave of 2009 (Karoly 2009), the Russian heat wave of 2010 (Barriopedro et al. 2011), the Texas heat wave of 2011 (NOAA 2011; Rupp et al. 2012), and the U.S. heat wave of 2012 (NOAA 2012, Source: Barriopedro et al. 2011. 2012b) (Figure 14). These heat waves often caused many heat-related deaths, for- est fires, and harvest losses (for example, Coumou and Rahmstorf 2012). These events were highly unusual with monthly and seasonal (Barriopedro et al. 2011). The death toll of the 2003 heat wave is temperatures typically more than 3 standard deviations (sigma) estimated at 70,000 (Field et al. 2012), with daily excess mortality warmer than the local mean temperature—so-called 3-sigma events. reaching up to 2,200 in France (Fouillet et al. 2006) (Figure 16). Without climate change, such 3-sigma events would be expected to The heatwave in Russia in 2010 resulted in an estimated death toll occur only once in several hundreds of years (Hansen et al. 2012). of 55,000, of which 11,000 deaths were in Moscow alone, and more The five hottest summers in Europe since 1500 all occurred after than 1 million hectares of burned land (Barriopedro et al. 2011). 2002, with 2003 and 2010 being exceptional outliers (Figure 15) In 2012, the United States, experienced a devastating heat wave 13 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Figure 16: Excess deaths observed during the 2003 heat wave in (Duffy and Tebaldi 2012; Jones, Lister, and Li 2008; Hansen et al. France. O= observed; E= expected. 2012; Stott et al. 2011). In the 1960s, summertime extremes of more than three standard deviations warmer than the mean of the climate were practically absent, affecting less than 1 percent of the Earth’s surface. The area increased to 4–5 percent by 2006–08, and by 2009–11 occurred on 6–13 percent of the land surface. Now such extremely hot outliers typically cover about 10 percent of the land area (Figure 18) (Hansen et al. 2012). The above analysis implies that extremely hot summer months and seasons would almost certainly not have occurred in the absence of global warming (Coumou, Robinson, and Rahmstorf, in review; Hansen et al. 2012). Other studies have explicitly attributed indi- vidual heat waves, notably those in Europe in 2003 (Stott, Stone, and Allen 2004), Russia in 2010 (Otto et al. 2012), and Texas in 2011 (Rupp et al. 2012) to the human influence on the climate. Source: Fouillet et al. 2006. Drought and Aridity Trends On a global scale, warming of the lower atmosphere strengthens the hydrologic cycle, mainly because warmer air can hold more and drought period (NOAA 2012, 2012b). On August 28, about 63 water vapor (Coumou and Rahmstorf 2012; Trenberth 2010). This percent of the contiguous United States was affected by drought strengthening causes dry regions to become drier and wet regions conditions (Figure 17) and the January to August period was the to become wetter, something which is also predicted by climate warmest ever recorded. That same period also saw numerous models (Trenberth 2010). Increased atmospheric water vapor wildfires, setting a new record for total burned area—exceeding loading can also amplify extreme precipitation, which has been 7.72 million acres (NOAA 2012b). detected and attributed to anthropogenic forcing over Northern Recent studies have shown that extreme summer temperatures Hemisphere land areas (Min, Zhang, Zwiers, and Hegerl 2011). can now largely be attributed to climatic warming since the 1960s Observations covering the last 50 years show that the intensi- fication of the water cycle indeed affected precipitation patterns over oceans, roughly at twice the rate predicted by the models (Durack et al. 2012). Over land, however, patterns of change are Figure 17: Drought conditions experienced on August 28 in the generally more complex because of aerosol forcing (Sun, Roder- contiguous United States. ick, and Farquhar 2012) and regional phenomenon including soil, moisture feedbacks (C.Taylor, deJeu, Guichard, Harris and Dorigo, 2012). Anthropogenic aerosol forcing likely played a key role in observed precipitation changes over the period 1940–2009 (Sun et al. 2012). One example is the likelihood that aerosol forcing has been linked to Sahel droughts (Booth, Dunstone, Halloran, Andrews, and Bellouin 2012), as well as a downward precipita- tion trend in Mediterranean winters (Hoerling et al. 2012). Finally, changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation, such as a poleward migration of the mid-latitudinal storm tracks, can also strongly affect precipitation patterns. Warming leads to more evaporation and evapotranspiration, which enhances surface drying and, thereby, the intensity and duration of droughts (Trenberth 2010). Aridity (that is, the degree to which a region lacks effective, life-promoting moisture) has increased since the 1970s by about 1.74 percent per decade, Source: “U.S. Drought Monitor” 2012. but natural cycles have played a role as well (Dai 2010, 2011). 14 Obse rved C li mate C h anges and I m pacts Figure 18: Northern Hemisphere land area covered (left panel) by cold (< –0.43σ), very cold (< –2σ), extremely cold (< –3σ) and (right panel) by hot (> 0.43σ), very hot (> 2σ) and extremely hot (> 3σ) summer temperatures. Source: Hansen et al. 2012. Dai (2012) reports that warming induced drying has increased than doubling from 8.5 percent to 18.6 percent (Li, Ye, Wang, and the areas under drought by about 8 percent since the 1970s. This Yan 2009). Lobell et al. 2011 find that since the 1980s, global crop study, however, includes some caveats relating to the use of the production has been negatively affected by climate trends, with drought severity index and the particular evapotranspiration maize and wheat production declining by 3.8 percent and 5.5 parameterization that was used, and thus should be considered percent, respectively, compared to a model simulation without as preliminary. climate trends. The drought conditions associated with the Russian One affected region is the Mediterranean, which experienced heat wave in 2010 caused grain harvest losses of 25 percent, lead- 10 of the 12 driest winters since 1902 in just the last 20 years ing the Russian government to ban wheat exports, and about $15 (Hoerling et al. 2012). Anthropogenic greenhouse gas and aero- billion (about 1 percent gross domestic product) of total economic sol forcing are key causal factors with respect to the downward loss (Barriopedro et al. 2011). winter precipitation trend in the Mediterranean (Hoerling et al. The high sensitivity of crops to extreme temperatures can 2012). In addition, other subtropical regions, where climate models cause severe losses to agricultural yields, as has been observed project winter drying when the climate warms, have seen severe in the following regions and countries: droughts in recent years (MacDonald 2010; Ummenhofer et al. 2009), but specific attribution studies are still lacking. East Africa • Africa: Based on a large number of maize trials (covering has experienced a trend towards increased drought frequencies varieties that are already used or intended to be used by since the 1970s, linked to warmer sea surface temperatures in the African farmers) and associated daily weather data in Africa, Indian-Pacific warm pool (Funk 2012), which are at least partly Lobell et al. (2011) have found a particularly high sensitivity attributable to greenhouse gas forcing (Gleckler et al. 2012). Fur- of yields to temperatures exceeding 30°C within the grow- thermore, a preliminary study of the Texas drought event in 2011 ing season. Overall, they found that each “growing degree concluded that the event was roughly 20 times more likely now day” spent at a temperature above 30°C decreases yields by than in the 1960s (Rupp, Mote, Massey, Rye, and Allen 2012). 1 percent under optimal (drought-free) rainfed conditions. Despite these advances, attribution of drought extremes remains A test experiment where daily temperatures were artificially highly challenging because of limited observational data and increased by 1°C showed that—based on the statistical model the limited ability of models to capture meso-scale precipitation the researchers fitted to the data—65 percent of the currently dynamics (Sun et al. 2012), as well as the influence of aerosols. maize growing areas in Africa would be affected by yield losses under optimal rainfed conditions. The trial conditions the researchers analyzed were usually not as nutrient limited Agricultural Impacts as many agricultural areas in Africa. Therefore, the situation is not directly comparable to “real world” conditions, but the Since the 1960s, sown areas for all major crops have increasingly study underlines the nonlinear relationship between warm- experienced drought, with drought affected areas for maize more ing and yields. 15 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided • United States: In the United State, significant nonlinear effects These climatic trends accumulated to produce four consecutive are observed above local temperatures of 29°C for maize, 30°C dry years following 2006 in Syria, with the 2007–08 drought being for soybeans, and 32°C for cotton (Schlenker and Roberts 2009). particularly devastating (De Schutter 2011; Trigo et al. 2010). As the vast majority of crops in this country are nonirrigated (Trigo et al. • Australia: Large negative effects of a “surprising” dimension 2010), the region is highly vulnerable to meteorological drought. In have been found in Australia for regional warming variations combination with water mismanagement, the 2008 drought rapidly of +2°C, which Asseng, Foster, and Turner argue have general led to water stress with more than 40 percent of the cultivated land applicability and could indicate a risk that “could substantially affected, strongly reducing wheat and barley production (Trigo et undermine future global food security” (Asseng, Foster, and al. 2010). The repeated droughts resulted in significant losses for Turner 2011). the population, affecting in total 1.3 million people (800,000 of • India: Lobell et al. 2012 analyzed satellite measurements whom were severely affected), and contributing to the migration of wheat growth in northern India to estimate the effect of of tens of thousands of families (De Schutter 2011). Clearly, these extreme heat above 34°C. Comparison with commonly used impacts are also strongly influenced by nonclimatic factors, such process-based crop models led them to conclude that crop as governance and demography, which can alter the exposure models probably underestimate yield losses for warming of and level of vulnerability of societies. Accurate knowledge of the 2°C or more by as much as 50 percent for some sowing dates, vulnerability of societies to meteorological events is often poorly where warming of 2°C more refers to an artificial increase of quantified, which hampers quantitative attribution of impacts daily temperatures of 2°C. This effect might be significantly (Bouwer 2012). Nevertheless, qualitatively one can state that the stronger under higher temperature increases. largely human-induced shift toward a climate with more frequent High impact regions are expected to be those where trends in droughts in the eastern Mediterranean (Hoerling et al. 2012) is temperature and precipitation go in opposite directions. One such already causing societal impacts in this climatic “hotspot.” “hotspot” region is the eastern Mediterranean where wintertime precipitation, which contributes most to the annual budget, has been declining (Figure 19), largely because of increasing anthro- Extreme Events in the Period 2000–12 pogenic greenhouse gas and aerosol forcing (Hoerling et al. 2012). At the same time, summertime temperatures have been increas- Recent work has begun to link global warming to recent record- ing steadily since the 1970s (Figure 19), further drying the soils breaking extreme events with some degree of confidence. Heat because of more evaporation. waves, droughts, and floods have posed challenges to affected societies in the past. Table 1 below shows a number of unusual weather events for which there is now substantial scientific evidence linking them to global warming with medium to high levels of con- fidence. Note that while floods are not included in this table, they Figure 19: Observed wintertime precipitation (blue), which have had devastating effects on human systems and are expected contributes most to the annual budget, and summertime temperature to increase in frequency and size with rising global temperatures. (red), which is most important with respect to evaporative drying, with their long-term trend for the eastern Mediterranean region. Possible Mechanism for Extreme Event Synchronization The Russian heat wave and Pakistan flood in 2010 can serve as an example of synchronicity between extreme events. During these events, the Northern Hemisphere jet stream exhibited a strongly meandering pattern, which remained blocked for several weeks. Such events cause persistent and, therefore, potentially extreme weather conditions to prevail over unusually longtime spans. These patterns are more likely to form when the latitudinal temperature gradient is small, resulting in a weak circumpolar vortex. This is just what occurred in 2003 as a result of anomalously high near-Arctic sea-surface temperatures (Coumou and Rahmstorf 2012). Ongoing melting of Arctic sea ice over recent decades has been linked to 16 Obse rved C li mate C h anges and I m pacts observed changes in the mid-latitudinal jet stream with possible Welfare Impacts implications for the occurrence of extreme events, such as heat waves, floods, and droughts, in different regions (Francis and Vavrus 2012). A recent analysis (Dell and Jones 2009) of historical data for the Recent analysis of planetary-scale waves indicates that with period 1950 to 2003 shows that climate change has adversely increasing global warming, extreme events could occur in a glob- affected economic growth in poor countries in recent decades. ally synchronized way more often (Petoukhov, Rahmstorf, Petri, Large negative effects of higher temperatures on the economic and Schellnhuber, in review). This could significantly exacerbate growth of poor countries have been shown, with a 1°C rise in associated risks globally, as extreme events occurring simultaneously regional temperature in a given year reducing economic growth in different regions of the world are likely to put unprecedented in that year by about 1.3 percent. The effects on economic stresses on human systems. For instance, with three large areas growth are not limited to reductions in output of individual sec- of the world adversely affected by drought at the same time, there tors affected by high temperatures but are felt throughout the is a growing risk that agricultural production globally may not be economies of poor countries. The effects were found to persist able to compensate as it has in the past for regional droughts (Dai over 15-year time horizons. While not conclusive, this study is 2012). While more research is needed here, it appears that extreme arguably suggestive of a risk of reduced economic growth rates in events occurring in different sectors would at some point exert poor countries in the future, with a likelihood of effects persisting pressure on finite resources for relief and damage compensation. over the medium term. 17 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Table 1: Selection of record-breaking meteorological events since 2000, their societal impacts and qualitative confidence level that the meteorological event can be attributed to climate change. Adapted from Ref.1 Confidence in attribution to Region (Year) Meteorological Record-breaking Event climate change Impact, costs England and Wales Wettest autumn on record since 1766. Several short- Medium based on3–5 ~£1.3 billion3 (2000) term rainfall records2 Europe (2003) hottest summer in at least 500 years6 High based on7,8 Death toll exceeding 70,0009 England and Wales May to July wettest since records began in 176610 Medium based on3,4 Major flooding causing ~£3 billion damage (2007) Southern Hottest summer on record in Greece since 189111 Medium based on8,12–14 Devastating wildfires Europe (2007) Eastern Mediter- Driest winter since 1902 (see Fig. 20) High based on15 Substantial damage to cereal production16 ranean, Middle-East (2008) Victoria (Aus) (2009) Heat wave, many station temperature records (32–154 Medium based on8,14 Worst bushfires on record, 173 deaths, 3,500 years of data)17 houses destroyed17 Western Hottest summer since 150018 Medium based on8,13,14,19 500 wildfires around Moscow, crop failure Russia (2010) of ~25%, death toll ~55,000, ~US$15B eco- nomic losses18 Pakistan (2010) Rainfall records20 Low to Medium based Worst flooding in its history, nearly 3000 on21,22 deaths, affected 20M people23. Colombia (2010) Heaviest rains since records started in 196926 Low to Medium based 47 deaths, 80 missing26 on21 Western Amazon Drought, record low water level in Rio Negro27 Low27 Area with significantly increased tree mortality (2010) spanning3.2 million km27 Western Europe Hottest and driest spring on record in France since Medium based on8,14,29 French grain harvest down by 12% (2011) 188028 4 US states (TX, Record-breaking summer heat and drought since High based on13,14,31,32 Wildfires burning 3 million acres (preliminary OK, NM, LA) (2011) 188030,31 impact of $6 to $8 billion)33 Continental U.S. July warmest month on record since 189534 and severe Medium based on13,14,32 Abrupt global food price increase due to crop (2012) drought conditions losses35 1 D Coumou and S Rahmstorf, Nature Climate Change 2, 491 (2012). 2 L.V. Alexander and P.D. Jones, Atmospheric Science Letters 1 (2001). 3 P. Pall, T. Aina, D.A. Stone et al., n 470, 382 (2011). 4 S.K. Min, X. Zhang, F.W. Zwiers et al., n 470, 378 (2011). 5 A.L. Kay, S.M. Crooks, P. Pall et al., Journal of Hydrology 406, 97 (2011). 6 J Luterbacher and et al., s 303, 1499 (2004). 7 P.M. Della-Marta, M.R. Haylock, J. Luterbacher et al., Journal of Geophysical Research 112 (D15103), 1 (2007); P. A. Stott, D. A. Stone, and M. R. Allen, n 432 (7017), 610 (2004). 8 D. Coumou, A. Robinson, and S. Rahmstorf, (in review); J. Hansen, M. Sato, and R. Ruedy, Proc. Nat. Ac. Sc. (early edition) (2012). 9 J. M. Robine, S. L. K. Cheung, S. Le Roy et al., Comptes Rendus Biologies 331 (2), 171 (2008). 10 World Meteorological Organisation, Report No. WMO-No 1036, 2009. 11 D. Founda and C. Giannakopoulos, Global and Planetary Change 67, 227 (2009). 12 F. G. Kuglitsch, A. Toreti, E. Xoplaki et al., Geophysical Research Letters 37 (2010). 13 G.S. Jones, P.A. Stott, and N. Christidis, jgr 113 (D02109), 1 (2008). 14 P.A. Stott, G.S. Jones, N. Christidis et al., Atmospheric Science Letters 12 (2), 220 (2011). 15 M. Hoerling, J. Eischeid, J. Perlwitz et al., journal-of-climate 25, 2146 (2012); A. Dai, J. Geoph. Res. 116 (D12115,), doi:10.1029/2010JD015541 (2011). 16 Ricardo M. Trigoa, Célia M. Gouveiaa, and David Barriopedroa, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 150 (9), 1245 (2010). 17 DJ Karoly, Bulletin of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society 22, 10 (2009). 18 D. Barriopedro, E.M. Fischer, J Luterbacher et al., s 332 (6026), 220 (2011). 19 F.E.L. Otto, N. Massey, G.J. van Oldenborgh et al., Geooph. Res. Lett. 39 (L04702), 1 (2012); S Rahmstorf and D. Coumou, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA 108 (44), 17905 (2011); R Dole, M Hoerling, J Perlwitz et al., Geophys. Res. Lett. 38, L06702 (2011). 18 Obse rved C li mate C h anges and I m pacts Table 1: Selection of record-breaking meteorological events since 2000, their societal impacts and qualitative confidence level that the meteorological event can be attributed to climate change. Adapted from Ref.1 (continued) 20 P.J. Webster, V.E. Toma, and H.M. Kim, Geophys. Res. Lett. 38 (L04806) (2011). 21 K. Trenberth and J. Fassullo, J. Geoph. Res., doi: 2012JD018020 (2012). 22 W. Lau and K.M. Kim, J. Hydrometeorology 13, 392 (2012). 23 C. Hong, H. Hsu, N. Lin et al., Geophys. Res. Let. 38 (L13806), 6 (2011). 24 Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Australian climate variability & change – Time series graphs, Available at http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/change/ timeseries.cgi, (2011). 25 R.C. van den Honert and J. McAneney, Water 3, 1149 (2011). 26 NOAA, http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/hazards/2010/12. (published online January 2011) (2011). 27 Simon L. Lewis, Paulo M. Brando, Oliver L. Phillips et al., s 331, 554 (2011). 28 WMO, http://www.wmo.int/pages/mediacentre/press_releases/gcs_2011_en.html (2011). 29 J. Cattiaux, BAMS, 1054 (2012). 30 NOAA, http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/2011/8 (published online September 2011) (2011b). 31 D.E. Rupp, P.W. Mote, N. Massey et al., BAMS, 1053 (2012). 32 P.B. Duffy and C. Tebaldi, cc 2012 (111) (2012). 33 NOAA, http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/hazards/2011/8 (published online September 2011) (2011c). 34 NOAA, http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/2012/7 (published online Aug 2012) (2012). 35 World-Bank, World Bank – Press release (available: http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/2012/08/30/severe-droughts-drive-food-prices-higher-threatening-poor) (2012). 19 Chapter 3 21st Century Projections This section provides an overview of 21st century climate projections, comparing the effects of strong mitigation actions that limit warming to 1.5 and 2°C above preindustrial levels with a distinctly different world in which low mitigation efforts result in warming approaching 4°C by 2100. The section looks at how likely a 4°C world is and compares the global mean consequence of a range of mitigation scenarios, which show that 4°C warming is not inevitable and that warming can still be limited to 2°C or lower with sustained policy action. It then explores some of the consequences of a 4°C world. The nonmitigation IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios Figure 20: Probabilistic temperature estimates for old (SRES) and (SRES) (Nakicenovic and Swart 2000), assessed in the IPCC AR4, new (RCP) IPCC scenarios. Depending on which global emissions path gave a warming range for 2100 of 1.6–6.9°C above preindustrial is followed, the 4°C temperature threshold could be exceeded before temperatures. In these projections, about half the uncertainty range the end of the century. is due to the uncertainties in the climate system response to green- house gas emissions. Assuming a “best guess” climate response, the warming response was projected at 2.3–4.5°C by 2100, the remaining uncertainty being due to different assumptions about how the world population, economy, and technology will develop during the 21st century. No central, or most likely, estimate was provided of future emissions for the SRES scenarios, as it was not possible to choose one emissions pathway over another as more likely (Nakicenovic and Swart 2000). The range from the SRES scenarios, nevertheless, indicates that there are many nonmitiga- tion scenarios that could lead to warming in excess of 4°C. The evolution of policies and emissions since the SRES was completed points to a warming of above 3°C being much more likely than those levels below, even after including mitigation pledges and targets adopted since 2009. While the SRES generation of scenarios did not include mitiga- tion of greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming, a range of new scenarios was developed for the IPCC AR5, three of which are derived from mitigation scenarios. These so-called Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) (Moss et al. 2010) are compared with the SRES scenarios in Figure 20. Three of the RCPs are derived from mitigation scenarios produced by Integrated Assessment Source: Rogelj, Meinshausen, et al. 2012. Models (IAMs) that are constructed to simulate the international energy-economic system and allow for a wide variety of energy 21 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Box 1: What are Emissions Scenarios? The climate system is highly sensitive to concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These concentrations are a result of emis- sions of different greenhouse gases from various anthropogenic or natural sources (for example, combustion of fossil fuels, deforestation, and agriculture). To better understand the impacts of climate change in the future, it is crucial to estimate the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in the years to come. Based on a series of assumptions on driving forces (such as economic development, technology enhancement rate, and population growth, among others), emissions scenarios describe future release into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Because of the high level of uncertainty in these driving forces, emissions scenarios usually provide a range of possibilities of how the future might unfold. They assist in climate change analysis, including climate modeling and the assessment of impacts, adaptation, and mitigation. The following emissions scenarios have been used to project future climate change and develop mitigation strategies. The Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES), published by the IPCC in 2000, has provided the climate projections for the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). They do not include mitigation assumptions. Since then, a new set of four scenarios (the representative concentration pathways or RCPs) has been designed, which includes mitigation pathways. The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) will be based on these. SRES Scenarios The SRES study includes consideration of 40 different scenarios, each making different assumptions about the driving forces determining future greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions scenarios are organized into families: • The A1 storyline and scenario family describes a future world of very rapid economic growth, global population that peaks at mid-century and declines thereafter, and the rapid introduction of new and more efficient technologies. • The A2 storyline and scenario family describes a very heterogeneous world. The underlying theme is self-reliance and preservation of local identities. Fertility patterns across regions converge very slowly, which results in continuously increasing global population. Economic development is primarily regionally oriented and per capita economic growth and technological change are more fragmented and slower than in other storylines. • The B1 storyline and scenario family describes a convergent world with the same global population that peaks in mid-century and declines thereafter, as in the A1 storyline, but with rapid changes in economic structures toward a service and information economy, with reductions in material intensity and the introduction of clean and resource-efficient technologies. The emphasis is on global solutions to economic, social, and environmental sustainability, including improved equity, but without additional climate initiatives. • The B2 storyline and scenario family describes a world in which the emphasis is on local solutions for economic, social, and environmental sustainability. It is a world with continuously increasing global population at a rate lower than that of A2, intermediate levels of economic development, and less rapid and more diverse technological change than in the B1 and A1 storylines. While the scenario is also oriented toward environmental protection and social equity, it focuses on local and regional levels. Representative Concentration Pathways Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) are based on carefully selected scenarios from work on integrated assessment modeling, cli- mate modeling, and modeling and analysis of impacts. Nearly a decade of new economic data, information about emerging technologies, and observations of environmental factors, such as land use and land cover change, are reflected in this work. Rather than starting with detailed socioeconomic storylines to generate emissions scenarios, the RCPs are consistent sets of projections of only the components of radiative forcing (the change in the balance between incoming and outgoing radiation to the atmosphere caused primarily by changes in atmospheric composition) that are meant to serve as input for climate modeling. These radiative forcing trajectories are not associated with unique socio- economic or emissions scenarios, and instead can result from different combinations of economic, technological, demographic, policy, and institutional futures. Four RCPs were selected, defined, and named according to their total radiative forcing in 2100: • RCP 8.5: Rising radiative forcing pathway leading to 8.5 W/m² in 2100 • RCP 6: Stabilization without overshoot pathway to 6 W/m² at stabilization after 2100 • RCP 4.5: Stabilization without overshoot pathway to 4.5 W/m² at stabilization after 2100 • RCP 3PD: Peak in radiative forcing at ~ 3 W/m² before 2100 and decline These RCPS will be complemented by so-called “shared socio-economic pathways” (SSPs), comprising a narrative and trajectories for key factors of socioeconomic development. 22 21st C ent u ry Projections technologies to satisfy demand (Masui et al. 2011; Thomson et al. Figure 21: Probabilistic temperature estimates for new (RCP) IPCC 2011; Vuuren et al. 2011; Rao and Riahi 2006). scenarios, based on the synthesized carbon-cycle and climate system The purpose of the RCP exercise was to derive a wide range understanding of the IPCC AR4. Grey ranges show 66 percent ranges, of plausible pathways through 2100 (and beyond) to be used to yellow lines are the medians. Under a scenario without climate policy drive the climate and climate impact models, the results of which intervention (RCP8.5), median warming could exceed 4°C before the would be summarized in the IPCC. last decade of this century. In addition, RCP6 (limited climate policy) shows a more than 15 percent chance to exceed 4°C by 2100. The highest RCP scenario, RCP8.5 (Riahi, Rao, et al. 2011), is the only nonmitigation pathway within this AR5 scenario group and is comparable to the highest AR4 SRES scenario (SRES A1FI). It projects warming by 2100 of close to 5°C. However, RCP6, one of the RCP mitigation scenarios that assumes only a limited degree of climate policy intervention, already projects warming exceeding 4°C by 2100 with a probability of more than 15 percent. As illustrated in Figure 20, the range of changes in temperature for the RCP scenarios is wider than for the AR4 SRES scenarios. The main reason for this is that the RCPs span a greater range of plausible emissions scenarios, including both scenarios assuming no mitigation efforts (RCP8.5) and scenarios that assume relatively ambitious mitigation efforts (RCP3PD). This wide variety of the RCP pathway range is further illustrated in Figure 21. The median estimate of warming in 2100 under the nonmitigation RCP8.5 pathway is close to 5°C and still steeply rising, while under the much lower RCP3PD pathway temperatures have already peak and slowly transition to a downward trajectory before the end of this century. How Likely is a 4°C World? The emission pledges made at the climate conventions in Copen- hagen and Cancun, if fully met, place the world on a trajectory for a global mean warming of well over 3°C. Even if these pledges are fully implemented there is still about a 20 percent chance of Source: Rogelj, Meinshausen et al. 2012 exceeding 4°C in 2100.10 If these pledges are not met then there is a much higher likelihood—more than 40 percent—of warm- ing exceeding 4°C by 2100, and a 10 percent possibility of this occurring already by the 2070s, assuming emissions follow the Most striking in Figure 22 is the large gap between the pro- medium business-as-usual reference pathway. On a higher fos- jections by 2100 of current emissions reduction pledges and the sil fuel intensive business-as-usual pathway, such as the IPCC (lower) emissions scenarios needed to limit warming to 1.5–2°C SRESA1FI, warming exceeds 4°C earlier in the 21st century. It is above pre-industrial levels. This large range in the climate change important to note, however, that such a level of warming can implications of the emission scenarios by 2100 is important in its still be avoided. There are technically and economically feasible emission pathways that could still limit warming to 2°C or below 10 Probabilities of warming projections are based on the approach of (Meinshausen in the 21st century. et al. 2011), which involves running a climate model ensemble of 600 realizations To illustrate a possible pathway to warming of 4°C or more, for each emissions scenario. In the simulations each ensemble member is driven by Figure 22 uses the highest SRES scenario, SRESA1FI, and compares a different set of climate-model parameters that define the climate-system response, it to other, lower scenarios. SRESA1FI is a fossil-fuel intensive, high including parameters determining climate sensitivity, carbon cycle characteristics, and many others. Randomly drawn parameter sets that do not allow the climate model to economic growth scenario that would very likely cause mean the reproduce a set of observed climate variables over the past centuries (within certain global temperature to exceed a 4°C increase above preindustrial tolerable “accuracy” levels) are filtered out and not used for the projections, leaving temperatures. the 600 realizations that are assumed to have adequate predictive skill. 23 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Figure 22: Median estimates (lines) from probabilistic temperature highest RCP scenarios for the AR4 generation of AOGCMS. Patterns projections for two nonmitigation emission scenarios (SRES A1FI and a are broadly consistent between high and low scenarios. The high reference scenario close to SRESA1B), both of which come close to, or latitudes tend to warm substantially more than the global mean. exceed by a substantial margin, 4°C warming by 2100. The results for RCP8.5, the highest of the new IPCC AR5 RCP scenarios, can these emissions are compared to scenarios in which current pledges be used to explore the regional implications of a 4°C or warmer are met and to mitigation scenarios holding warming below 2°C with world. For this report, results for RCP8.5 (Moss et al. 2010) from a 50 percent chance or more (Hare, Cramer, Schaeffer, Battaglini, the new IPCC AR5 CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Proj- and Jaeger 2011; Rogelj et al. 2010; Schaeffer, Hare, Rahmstorf, and ect; Taylor, Stouffer, & Meehl 2012) climate projections have been Vermeer 2012). The 2 standard deviation uncertainty range is provided analyzed. Figure 24 shows the full range of increase of global mean for one scenario only to enhance readability. A hypothetical scenario is also plotted for which global emissions stop are ended in 2016, as temperature over the 21st century, relative to the 1980–2000 period an illustrative comparison against pathways that are technically and from 24 models driven by the RCP8.5 scenario, with those eight economically feasible. The spike in warming after emissions are cut to models highlighted that produce a mean warming of 4–5°C above zero is due to the removal of the shading effect of sulfate aerosols. preindustrial temperatures averaged over the period 2080–2100. In terms of regional changes, the models agree that the most 5 Global average surface temperature increase IPCC SRES A1FI very likely to exceed 4°C pronounced warming (between 4°C and 10°C) is likely to occur Reference (close to SRES A1B) 4 over land. During the boreal winter, a strong “arctic amplifica- above pre-industrial levels (°C) likely to exceed 3°C Current Pledges Effect of current virtually certain to exceed 2°C; 50% chance above 3°C pledges tion” effect is projected, resulting in temperature anomalies of 3 Stabilization at 50% chance to exceed 2°C over 10°C in the Arctic region. The subtropical region consisting RCP3PD 2°C likely below 2°C; medium chance to exceed 1.5°C of the Mediterranean, northern Africa and the Middle East and 1.5°C the contiguous United States is likely to see a monthly summer Global sudden stop to emissions in 2016 1 likely below 1.5°C Geophysical temperature rise of more than 6°C. intertia 0 Illustrative low-emission scenario with negative CO2 emissions from upper half of literature range Historical observations in 2nd half of 21st Century 1900 1950 2000 2050 2100 CO2 Concentration and Ocean Acidification The high emission scenarios would also result in very high carbon own right, but it also sets the stage for an even wider divergence dioxide concentrations and ocean acidification, as can be seen in in the changes that would follow over the subsequent centuries, Figure 25 and Figure 26. The increase of carbon dioxide concen- given the long response times of the climate system, including tration to the present-day value of 390 ppm has caused the pH the carbon cycle and climate system components that contribute to drop by 0.1 since preindustrial conditions. This has increased to sea-level rise. ocean acidity, which because of the logarithmic scale of pH is The scenarios presented in Figure 22 indicate the likely onset equivalent to a 30 percent increase in ocean acidity (concentration time for warming of 4°C or more. It can be seen that most of the of hydrogen ions). The scenarios of 4°C warming or more by 2100 scenarios remain fairly close together for the next few decades correspond to a carbon dioxide concentration of above 800 ppm of the 21st century. By the 2050s, however, there are substantial and lead to a further decrease of pH by another 0.3, equivalent to differences among the changes in temperature projected for the a 150 percent acidity increase since preindustrial levels. different scenarios. In the highest scenario shown here (SRES A1FI), Ongoing ocean acidification is likely to have very severe the median estimate (50 percent chance) of warming reaches 4°C consequences for coral reefs, various species of marine calcifying by the 2080s, with a smaller probability of 10 percent of exceeding organisms, and ocean ecosystems generally (for example, Vézina this level by the 2060s. Others have reached similar conclusions & Hoegh-Guldberg 2008; Hofmann and Schellnhuber 2009). (Betts et al. 2011). Thus, even if the policy pledges from climate A recent review shows that the degree and timescale of ocean convention in Copenhagen and Cancun are fully implemented, acidification resulting from anthropogenic CO2 emissions appears there is still a chance of exceeding 4°C in 2100. If the pledges are to be greater than during any of the ocean acidification events not met and present carbon intensity trends continue, then the identified so far over the geological past, dating back millions of higher emissions scenarios shown in Figure 22 become more likely, years and including several mass extinction events (Zeebe 2012). raising the probability of reaching 4°C global mean warming by If atmospheric CO2 reaches 450 ppm, coral reef growth around the last quarter of this century. the world is expected to slow down considerably and at 550 ppm Figure 23 shows a probabilistic picture of the regional patterns reefs are expected to start to dissolve (Cao and Caldeira 2008; of change in temperature and precipitation for the lowest and Silverman et al. 2009). Reduced growth, coral skeleton weakening, 24 21st C ent u ry Projections Figure 23: The correlation between regional warming and precipitation changes in the form of joint distributions of mean regional temperature and precipitation changes in 2100 is shown for the RCP3-PD (blue) and RCP8.5 (orange) scenarios. The latter exceeds 4°C warming globally by 2100. The distributions show the uncertainty in the relationship between warming and precipitation for 20 of the AOGCMs used in the IPCC AR4, and take into account the significant effects of aerosols on regional patterns. The boxes indicate the inner 80 percent of the marginal distributions and the labeling of the axes is the same in all subpanels and given in the legend. The region definitions are based on Giorgi and Bi (2005) and are often used to describe large-scale climate changes over land areas. Here, they are amended by those for the West and East Antarctic Ice Sheets separated by the Transantarctic Mountains. Source: Frieler, Meinshausen et al. 2012. and increased temperature dependence would start to affect coral Figure 24: Simulated historic and 21st century global mean reefs already below 450 ppm. Thus, a CO2 level of below 350 ppm temperature anomalies, relative to the preindustrial period (1880–1900), appears to be required for the long-term survival of coral reefs, for 24 CMIP5 models based on the RCP8.5 scenario. The colored if multiple stressors, such as high ocean surface-water tempera- (and labeled) curves show those simulations reaching a global mean ture events, sea-level rise, and deterioration in water quality, are warming of 4°C–5°C warmer than preindustrial for 2080–2100, which included (Veron et al. 2009). are used for further analysis. Based on an estimate of the relationship between atmo- spheric carbon dioxide concentration and surface ocean acidity (Bernie, Lowe, Tyrrell, and Legge 2010), only very low emission scenarios are able to halt and ultimately reverse ocean acidifica- tion (Figure 26). An important caveat on these results is that the approach used here is likely to be valid only for relatively short timescales. If mitigation measures are not implemented soon to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, then ocean acidification can be expected to extend into the deep ocean. The calculations shown refer only to the response of the ocean surface layers, and once ocean acidification has spread more thoroughly, slowing and reversing this will be much more difficult. This would further add significant stress to marine ecosystems already under pres- sure from human influences, such as overfishing and pollution. 25 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Figure 25: Projected impacts on coral reefs as a consequence that on the planetary scale, in a warmer world generally dry areas of a rising atmospheric CO2 concentration. Coral reef limits from will become drier and wet areas wetter, in the absence of additional Silverman et al. (2009) indicate the approximate levels of atmospheric forcing by aerosols (Chen et al. 2011), which are projected to play CO2 concentration at which the reaction of CO2 with seawater reduces a much smaller role relative to greenhouse gases compared to the the availability of calcium carbonate to the point that coral reefs stop 20th century. The most robust large-scale feature of climate model growing (450 ppm), or even start to resolve (550 ppm). Based on further projections seems to be an increase in precipitation in the tropics considerations of coral bleaching resulting from associated warming at and a decrease in the subtropics, as well as an increase in mid high CO2 while also considering other human influences, Veron et al. to high latitudes (Trenberth 2010; Allen 2012). On the regional (2009) estimated that the CO2 concentration might have to be reduced scale, observational evidence suggests soil-moisture feedbacks to below 350 ppm to ensure the long-term survival of coral reefs. See caption of Figure 22 for legend. might lead to increased vertical air transport (convection) trig- gering afternoon rains over drier soils, hence providing a negative 1000 IPCC SRES A1FI feedback that dampens an increased dryness trend, although it 900 is as yet unclear if and how the small-scale feedbacks involved CO concentration (ppm) 800 translate to longer time scales and larger subcontinental spatial Reference (close to SRES A1B) 700 scales (Taylor de Jenet 2012). Current Pledges 600 Coral reefs start dissolving Using the results from the latest generations of 13 climate models (CMIP5) that will form major input for IPCC AR5, Sill- 2 500 Coral reefs stop growing 50% chance to exceed 2°C 400 RCP3PD Global sudden stop to emissions in 2016 mann et al. (2012) showed that total precipitation on wet days is Long-term limit for reefs Illustrative low-emission scenario with generally projected to increase by roughly 10 percent. They also 300 strong negative CO2 emissions 1900 1950 2000 2050 2100 Year found that extreme precipitation events, expressed as total annual precipitation during the five wettest days in the year, is projected to Sources: Hare et al. 2011; Rogelj et al. 2010; Schaeffer et al. 2012. increase by 20 percent in RCP8.5 (4+°C), indicating an additional risk of flooding. Large increases in mean total precipitation are projected for large parts of the Northern Hemisphere, East Africa, Figure 26: Ocean surface pH. Lower pH indicates more severe and South and Southeast Asia, as well as Antarctica, while changes ocean acidification, which inhibits the growth of calcifying organisms, are amplified in high northern and southern latitudes for scenarios including shellfish, calcareous phytoplankton, and coral reefs. The in which global mean warming exceeds 4°C. SRES A1FI scenarios show increasing ocean acidification likely to be Significant increases in extreme precipitation are projected associated with 4°C warming. Method for estimating pH from Bernie et to be more widespread. The strongest increases of 20–30 percent al. (2010). Median estimates from probabilistic projections. See Hare et precipitation during the annually wettest days were found for al. 2011; Rogelj et al. 2010; Schaeffer et al. 2012. See caption of Figure South Asia, Southeast Asia, western Africa, eastern Africa, Alaska, 22 for more details. Greenland, northern Europe, Tibet, and North Asia. The projected increases in extreme precipitation seem to be concentrated in Illustrative low-emission scenario with 8.1 strong negative CO2 emissions the Northern Hemisphere winter season (December, January, Global sudden stop to emissions in 2016 and February) over the Amazon Basin, southern South America, RCP3PD 8 western North America, central North America, northern Europe, Ocean Acidity (pH) 50% chance to exceed 2°C and Central Asia. 7.9 Current Pledges Overall drier conditions and droughts are caused by net 7.8 Reference (close to SRES A1B) decreases in precipitation and evaporation, the latter enhanced by higher surface temperatures (Trenberth 2010), as explained in 7.7 IPCC SRES A1FI Chapter 2 on observations. Since the net change determines soil 1900 1950 2000 2050 2100 Year moisture content, and since increased precipitation might occur in more intense events, an increase in overall precipitation might be consistent with overall drier conditions for some regions. Trenberth (2010) and more recently Dai (2012), who used the CMIP5 model Droughts and Precipitation results mentioned above, showed that particularly significant soil moisture decreases are projected to occur over much of the As explained earlier, modeling, observations and theoretical Americas, as well as the Mediterranean, southern Africa, and considerations suggest that greenhouse-gas forcing leads to an Australia. He also found that soil moisture content is projected intensification of the water cycle (Trenberth 2010). This implies to decrease in parts of the high northern latitudes. 26 21st C ent u ry Projections A different indicator of drought is the Palmer Drought Index, Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance which measures the cumulative balance of precipitation and Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) reports that the average maxi- evaporation relative to local conditions, therefore indicating what mum cyclone intensity (defined by maximum speed) is likely to is normal for a geographical location. The most extreme droughts increase in the future (Field et al. 2012). This is to be expected compared to local conditions are projected over the Amazon, from both theory and high-resolution modeling (Bender et al. western United States, the Mediterranean, southern Africa, and 2010; Knutson et al. 2010), although uncertainty remains as to southern Australia (Dai 2012). Further discussion of droughts and whether the global frequency of tropical cyclones will decrease their implications for agriculture appears in section 6. or remain essentially the same. Increasing exposure through economic growth and development is likely to lead to higher Implications for Economic Growth and economic losses in the future, with floodwaters in many locations Human Development increasing in the absence of additional protection measures. In the East Asia and Pacific and South Asian regions as a whole, Increasing intensity of extreme dry events appears likely to have gross domestic product (GDP) has outpaced increased losses adverse implications for poverty, particularly in developing coun- because of tropical cyclone damage, but in all other regions the tries in the future. According to models that bring together the risk of economic losses from tropical cyclones appears to be biophysical impacts of climate change and economic indicators, growing faster than GDP per capita; in other words, the risk of food prices can be expected to rise sharply, regardless of the loss of wealth because of tropical cyclone disasters appears to be exact amount of warming (Nelson et al. 2010). A recent projec- increasing faster than wealth (UNISDR 2011). Recent work has tion of the change in poverty and changes in extreme dry event demonstrated that the mortality risk from tropical cyclones depends intensity in the 2071 to 2100 period under the SRES A2 scenario on such factors as tropical cyclone intensity, exposure, levels of (with warming of about 4.1°C above preindustrial temperatures) poverty, and governance structures (Peduzzi et al. 2012). In the indicates a significant risk of increased climate-induced poverty short term, over the next 20 years or so, increases in population (Ahmed, Diffenbaugh, and Hertel 2009). The largest increase in and development pressure combined with projected increases poverty because of climate change is likely to occur in Africa, in tropical cyclone intensity appear likely to greatly increase with Bangladesh and Mexico also projected to see substantial the number of people exposed to risk and exacerbate disasters climate-induced poverty increases. (Peduzzi et al. 2012). Mendelsohn, Emanuel, Chonabayashi, and Bakkensen (2012) project that warming reaching roughly 4°C by 2100 is likely to double the present economic damage resulting Tropical Cyclones from the increased projected frequency of high-intensity tropical cyclones accompanying global warming, with most damages For some regions, the projected increased intensity of tropical concentrated in North America, East Asia, and the Caribbean cyclones poses substantial risks. The IPCC´s Special Report on and Central American region. 27 Chapter 4 Focus: Sea-level Rise Projections Projecting sea-level rise as a consequence of climate change is one of the most difficult, complex, and controversial scientific problems. Process-based approaches dominate—i.e the use of numeric models that represent the physical processes at play—and are usually used to project future climate changes such as air, temperature, and precipitation. In the case of Green- land and Antarctic ice sheets however, uncertainties in the scientific understanding about the response to global warming lead to less confidence in the application of ice sheet models to sea-level rise projections for the current century. On the other hand, semi-empirical approaches, which have begun to be used in recent years and take into account the observed relation between past sea level rise and global mean temperature to project future sea level rise, have their own limitations and challenges. It is now understood that, in addition to global rise in sea levels, A range of approaches have been used to estimate the regional a number of factors, such as the respective contribution of the ice consequences of projected sea-level rise with both a small and sheets or ocean dynamics, will affect what could happen in any a substantial ice sheet contribution over the 21st century (see particular location. Making estimates of regional sea-level rise, Appendix 1 and Table 2 for a summary). therefore, requires having to make estimates of the loss of ice on Using a semi-empirical model indicates that scenarios that Greenland and Antarctica and from mountain glaciers and ice caps. approach 4°C warming by 2100 (2090–2099) lead to median esti- Furthermore, there is at present an unquantifiable risk of mates of sea-level rise of nearly 1 m above 1980–1999 levels on this nonlinear responses from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and pos- time frame (Table 2). Several meters of further future sea-level rise sibly from other components of Greenland and Antarctica. In the would very likely be committed to under these scenarios (Schaef- 1970s, Mercer hypothesized that global warming could trigger fer et al. 2012). In this scenario, as described in Appendix 1, the the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is separated Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets (AIS and GIS) contributions from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet by a mountain range. The West to the total rise are assumed to be around 26 cm each over this Antarctic Ice Sheet is grounded mainly below sea level, with the time period. Applying the lower ice-sheet scenario assumption, deepest points far inland, and has the potential to raise eustatic the total rise is approximately 50 cm, the AIS and GIS contribu- global sea level by about 3.3 m (Bamber, Riva, Vermeersen, and tions to the total rise 0 and around 3 cm, respectively (Table 2). LeBrocq 2009). This estimate takes into account that the reverse Process-based modeling considerations at the very high end of bedslope could trigger instability of the ice sheet, leading to an physically plausible ice-sheet melt, not used in this report, suggest unhalted retreat. Since the first discussion of a possible collapse of that sea-level rise of as much as 2 m by 2100 might be possible at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet because of this so-called Marine Ice maximum (Pfeffer et al. 2008). Sheet Instability (Weertman 1974) induced by global anthropogenic For a 2°C warming by 2100 (2090–99), the median estimate greenhouse gas concentrations (Hughes 1973; Mercer 1968, 1978), of sea-level rise from the semi-empirical model is about 79 cm the question of if and how this might happen has been debated. above 1980–99 levels. In this case, the AIS and GIS contributions In their review of the issue in 2011, Joughin and Alley conclude to the total rise are assumed to be around 23 cm each. Applying that the possibility of a collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet the lower ice-sheet scenario assumption, the median estimate of cannot be discarded, although it remains unclear how likely such the total rise is about 34 cm, with the AIS and GIS contributing a collapse is and at what rate it would contribute to sea-level rise. 0 and around 2 cm respectively (Table 2). 29 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Box 2: Predictability of Future Sea-level Changes Future sea-level rise can be described as the sum of global mean change (as if the ocean surface as a whole were to undergo a uniform vertical displacement, because of heating or addition of mass) and local deviations from this mean value (readjustment of the ocean surface resulting from gravity forces, winds, and currents). The components of both global and regional sea-level rise are known with varying levels of confidence. Global mean thermal expansion is relatively well simulated by climate models, as it depends on the total amount of atmo- 0 50000 100000 150000 200000 250000 300000 350000 400000 450000 500000 550000 spheric warming and the rate of downward mixing of heat in the oceans. The spread in existing climate model projections is, therefore, well understood and probably gives an adequate estimate of the uncertainty. Projected melt in mountain glaciers and ice caps is also 40considered reliable, or at least its potential contribution to sea-level rise is limited by their moderate total volume, equal to 0.60 ±0.07 m sea-level equiva- 0 lent, of which a third is located at the margin of the large Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets (Radić and Hock 2010). RSL (m) The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets themselves constitute a markedly different problem. Their potential contributions to -40 future global mean sea-level rise is very large, namely 7 m and 57 m, respectively, for complete melting. While a recent study (Robinson et al. 2012) sug- a. gests that a critical threshold for complete disintegration of the Greenland ice sheet might be 1.6°C, it should not be forgotten that -80 this applies to an ice sheet -120 The time that can reach its equilibrium state in a world where temperature stays at levels above that threshold for a long time. 40 frame for such a complete disintegration, is of the order of at least several centuries or even millennia, even though it is not precisely known. 0 This means, that a world that crosses that threshold but returns to lower levels thereafter, is not necessarily doomed to lose the Greenland ice RSL (m) sheet. Although -40 the question of committed sea-level rise is important, currently projections of the nearer future are needed. However, the phys- ics of the large ice sheets is poorly understood. There are indications that current physical models do not capture these fast timescales: model -80 b. -120 Figure 27. 300 Sea level (blue, green: scale on the left) and Antarctic air temperature (orange, gray: scale on the right) over the last 550,000 Residuals around 50 years, from paleo-records (from right to left: present-day on the left). Sea level varied between about 110 m below and 10 m above 200 present, RSL* (m) while air temperature in Antarctica varied between about 10°C below and 4°C above present, with a very good correlation between both N 0 quantities. Variations in Antarctic air temperature are about two-fold those of global mean air temperature. Low sea-level stands correspond 100 to glacial periods and c. high stands to interglacials (see main text). d. -50 0 -50 0 50 40 residuals (m) 4 0 0 RSL (m) !TAA (°C) -40 -4 -80 e. -8 -120 -12 0 50000 100000 150000 200000 250000 300000 350000 400000 450000 500000 550000 Age (y BP, EDC3) Source: Rohling et al. 2009. simulations are so far not able to reproduce their presently observed contribution to current sea-level rise (Rahmstorf et al. 2007). This casts doubt on their ability to project changes into the future (see discussion below and throughout the main text). Regional variations of future sea-level also have uncertainties, but—concerning ocean dynamics—they remain within reach of the current generation of coupled ocean-atmosphere models, in the sense that an ensemble of model projections may be a good approach to estimate future changes and their associated uncertainties. Concerning changes in gravitational patterns, however, they are inherently linked to ice- sheet projections. Nevertheless, several attempts have been made to project regional sea-level changes (Katsman et al. 2008, 2011; Perrette, Landerer, Riva, Frieler, and Meinshausen 2012; Slangen, Katsman, Wal, Vermeersen, and Riva 2011). Past sea-level records indicate that it has varied by about 120 m between glacial periods and warmer interglacials (Figure 27), most of which is due to ice-sheet melt and regrowth. The most recent deglaciation has been accompanied by very rapid rates of rise (~40 mm/year) (Deschamps et al. 2012). However, that is not directly applicable to anthropogenic climate change because present-day ice sheets are much smaller than they were during the last ice age, and less numerous (the Laurentide and Fenno-scandinavian ice sheets do not exist anymore). A more relevant period to look at is the last warm, or interglacial, period (120,000 years ago). The global mean temperature was then likely 1–2°C above current values, and sea level was 6.6–9.4 m above the present level (Kopp, Simons, Mitrovica, Maloof, and Oppenheimer 2009), (continued on next page) 30 Foc u s: Sea-level Rise Projections (continued) as revealed by a compilation of various proxy data around the world. Important caveats in the study of paleo-climate as analog for future climate change are the nature of the forcing, which leads to sea-level rise (Ganopolski and Robinson 2011), and the rate of sea-level rise. The latter is often very poorly known due to a lack of temporal resolution in the data. Despite the various caveats associated with the use of paleo-climatic data, a lesson from the past is that ice sheets may have been very sensitive to changes in climate conditions and did collapse in the past. That is a strong motivation to better understand what leads to these changes and to pursue the efforts to assess the risk of large ice-sheet contributions to sea-level rise in the future. The benefit of choosing a 2°C pathway rather than a 4°C mountains and valleys. Wind and ocean currents further shape pathway can be to limit up to about 20 cm of total global sea-level the sea surface (Yin, Griffies, and Stouffer 2010), with strong cur- rise by the end of the century. rents featuring a cross-current surface slope (because of Earth Schaeffer et al. (2012) report, with a semi-empirical model, rotation). This effect results in a so-called “dynamic” sea-level significant potential to reduce the rate of sea-level rise by 2100 with pattern (Figure 30), which describes local deviations from the deep mitigation scenarios, such as RCP3PD, and even more so with a gravity-shaped surface (also called geoid), which the ocean would scenario consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C by 2100 (Figure 28). have if it were at rest. This dynamic topography also adjusts to the For example, under deep mitigation scenarios the rate of sea-level temperature and salinity structure, and thereby the local density rise could be either stabilized (albeit at three times the present level distribution of the underlying water. Apart from those changes in under RCP3PD) or reduced from peak levels reached at mid-century the sea level itself (or in the absolute sea level, as measured from (under a 1.5°C consistent scenario). Under emissions scenarios that the center of the Earth), the vertical motion of the Earth’s crust also reach or exceed 4°C warming by 2100 the rate of sea-level rise would influences the perceived sea level at the coast (also called relative continue to increase throughout the 21st century (Figure 29). sea level, as measured from the coast). The elevation of the land surface responds to current and past changes in ice loading, in particular the glacial isostatic adjustment since the last deglacia- Regional Sea-level Rise Risks tion (Peltier and Andrews 1976). Local land subsidence can also occur in response to mining (Poland and Davis 1969), leading to Sea level is not “flat” nor uniformly distributed over the Earth. a perceived sea-level rise. In what follows, this publication refers The presence of mountains, deep-ocean ridges, and even ice sheets to sea-level changes regardless of whether they are absolute or perturb the gravity field of the Earth and give the ocean surface relative changes. Table 2: Global Mean Sea-Level Projections between Present-Day (1980–99) and the 2090–99 Period The numbers in bracket for the 2°C and 4°C scenarios indicate the 16th and the 84th percentiles, as an indication of the assessed uncertainty. Components are thermal expansion, mountain glaciers, and ice caps (MGIC), Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS), and Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS). All scenarios apply the same method of calculating the contributions from thermal expansion and mountain glaciers and ice caps, but differ in assumptions regarding the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets. The “GIS AR4 and zero AIS” method assumes no contribution from the Antarctic ice sheet and a limited contribution from Greenland, using methods dating back to IPCC’s AR4 (see text box). The semi-empirical method derives relations between warming and total sea-level rise from observations over the past 2,000 years and uses this relation for projections into the future. In addition, the table presents in the last row extrapolations in the future of present-day rates of sea-level rise (SLR Current Trend) for comparison with the projections (indicative purpose only). The two numbers indicated there represent a linear and an accelerated trend. The ice-sheet trends are derived from 1992–2009 observations (Rignot et al. 2011). For total SLR (last column), the lower estimate assumes a fixed 3.3 mm/yr annual rate of SLR, equal to the mean trend in satellite observations over the period 1993–2007 (Cazenave and Llovel 2010). The accelerated trend estimate only accounts for acceleration resulting from ice sheet melting (Rignot et al. 2011), added on top of the fixed-rate estimate of total sea-level rise. Thermal Scenario Thermal expansion (cm) MGIC (cm) +MGIC (cm) GIS (cm) AIS (cm) Total (cm) 2°C Lower ice sheet 19 (12, 26) 13 (9, 16) 2 (1, 3) 0 (0, 0) 34 (27, 42) Semi-empirical 32 (25, 40) 23 (14, 33) 23 (14, 33) 79 (65, 96) 4°C Lower ice sheet 27 (17, 38) 16 (12, 20) 43 (33, 53) 3 (2, 5) 0 (0, 0) 47 (37, 58) Semi-empirical 26 (15, 39) 26 (16, 39) 96 (82, 123) SLR Current Trend 6–33 7–23 35–77 linear-accelerated 31 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Figure 28: As for Figure 22 but for global mean sea-level rise Figure 30: Present-day sea-level dynamic topography. This figure using a semi-empirical approach. The indicative/fixed present-day rate shows the sea-level deviations from the geoid (that is, the ocean surface of 3.3 mm.yr-1 is the satellite-based mean rate 1993–2007 (Cazenave determined by the gravity field, if the oceans were at rest). Above- and Llovel 2010). Median estimates from probabilistic projections. See average sea-level is shown in orange/red while below-average sea level Schaeffer et al. (2012) and caption of Figure 22 for more details. is indicated in blue/purple. The contour lines indicate 10 cm intervals. This “dynamic topography” reflects the equilibrium between the surface 125 IPCC SRES A1FI slope and the ocean current systems. Noteworthy is the below-average 100 Reference (close to SRES A1B) sea level along the northeastern coast of the United States, associated Current Pledges with the Gulf Stream. Climate change is projected to provoke a slow- Sea level (cm above 2000) 50% chance to exceed 2°C 75 RCP3PD Illustrative low-emission scenario with down of the Gulf Stream during the 21st century and a corresponding strong negative CO2 emissions 50 Global sudden stop to emissions in 2016 flattening of the ocean surface. This effect alone would, in turn, cause sea level to rise in that area. Note however that there is no systematic 25 te y ra t-da Fixe d pre sen link between present-day dynamic topography (shown in this figure) and 0 the future sea-level rise under climate warming. -25 1900 1950 2000 2050 2100 Year Figure 29: As for Figure 22 but for annual rate of global mean sea-level rise. The indicative/fixed present-day rate of 3.3 mm.yr-1 is the satellite based mean rate 1993–2007 (Cazenave and Llovel 2010). Median estimates from probabilistic projections. See Schaeffer et al. (2012 and caption of Figure 22 for more details. IPCC SRES A1FI Rate of Sea Level Rise (mm/year) 20 Reference (close to SRES A1B) Current Pledges 15 Source: Yin et al. 2010. 10 50% chance to exceed 2°C RCP3PD Illustrative low-emission scenario with strong negative CO2 emissions 5 Fixed present-day rate Global sudden stop to emissions in 2016 2005). In certain cases, however, these large deviations from the 0 global mean rate of rise are caused by natural variability (such as 1900 1950 2000 2050 2100 Year the El Niño phenomenon) and will not be sustained in the future. The very high rates of rise observed in the western tropical Pacific since the 1960s (Becker et al. 2012) likely belong to this category (B. Meyssignac, Salas y Melia, Becker, Llovel, and Cazenave 2012). Climate change perturbs both the geoid and the dynamic topog- In the following, the authors apply two scenarios (lower raphy. The redistribution of mass because of melting of continental ice-sheet and higher ice-sheet) in a 4°C world to make regional ice (mountain glaciers, ice caps, and ice sheets) changes the gravity sea-level rise projections. For methods, please see Appendix 1 and field (and therefore the geoid). This leads to above-average rates Table 2 for global-mean projections. of rise in the far field of the melting areas and to below-average A clear feature of the regional projections for both the lower rise—sea-level drop in extreme cases—in the regions surround- and higher ice-sheet scenarios is the relatively high sea-level rise ing shrinking ice sheets and large mountain glaciers (Farrell and at low latitudes (in the tropics) and below-average sea-level rise Clark 1976) (Figure 31). That effect is accentuated by local land at higher latitudes (Figure 32). This is primarily because of the uplift around the melting areas. These adjustments are mostly polar location of ice masses whose reduced gravitational pull instantaneous. accentuates the rise in their far-field, the tropics, similarly to Changes in the wind field and in the ocean currents can present-day ice-induced pattern of rise (Figure 31). Close to the also—because of the dynamic effect mentioned above—lead to main ice-melt sources (Greenland, Arctic Canada, Alaska, Pata- strong local sea-level changes (Landerer, Jungclaus, and Marotzke gonia, and Antarctica), crustal uplift and reduced self-attraction 2007; Levermann, Griesel, Hofmann, Montoya, and Rahmstorf cause a below-average rise, and even a sea-level fall in the very 32 Foc u s: Sea-level Rise Projections Figure 31: Present-day rates of regional sea-level rise due to land- Figure 32: Sea-level rise in a 4°C warmer world by 2100 along the ice melt only (modeled from a compilation of land-ice loss observations). world’s coastlines, from South to North. Each color line indicates an This features areas of sea-level drop in the regions close to ice sheets average over a particular coast as shown in the inlet map in the upper and mountain glaciers (in blue) and areas of sea-level rise further panel. The scale on the right-hand side represents the ratio of regional away (red), as a consequence of a modified gravity field (reduced sea-level compared to global-mean sea level (units of percent), and self-attraction from the ice masses) or land uplift. The thick green the vertical bars represent uncertainty thereof, showing 50 percent, 68 contour indicates the global sea-level rise (1.4 mm/yr): locations inside percent, and 80 percent ranges. the contour experience above-average rise, while locations outside 60 the contour experience below-average sea-level rise or even drop. 70 a. Low ice−sheet scenario 50 40 Compare Figure A1.3 for projected sea-level contribution from land ice 30 60 in a 4°C world 20 Sea−level change (cm) 50 10 0 −10 40 −20 % −30 30 −40 −50 20 −60 −70 10 −80 −90 0 −100 150 60 b. High ice−sheet scenario 50 40 30 20 Sea−level change (cm) 10 100 0 −10 −20 % −30 −40 50 −50 Tuvalu Hong Kong Dutch Coast −60 Mauritius Bay of Bengal Vancouver Cape Town Maldives New York −70 Melbourne Mombasa Lisbon −80 −90 0 −100 Source: Bamber and Riva 2010. −70 −60 −50 −40 −30 −20 −10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Latitude near-field of a mass source. Further away, the eastern Asian coast and the Indian Ocean experience above-average contribution low latitudes, such as in vulnerable locations in the Indian Ocean from land-ice melt. or in the western Pacific, and less than the global mean at high While this is clearly the dominant effect in the higher ice-sheet latitudes, for example along the Dutch coast, because of the polar case, where the median land-ice contribution makes up around location of the ice sheets and their reduced gravitational pull after 70 percent of the total, it explains only part of the pattern in the melting. On top of ice-induced patterns, changes in ocean currents lower ice-sheet case, where land ice accounts for only 40 percent can also lead to significant deviations from the global mean rise. of the total median. Ocean dynamics also shape the pattern of The northeastern North American coast has indeed been identified projected sea-level. In particular, above-average contribution as a “hotspot” where the sea level is rising faster than the global from ocean dynamics is projected along the northeastern North mean (Sallenger et al. 2012), and might continue to do so (Yin et American and eastern Asian coasts, as well as in the Indian Ocean al. 2009), if the gravitational depression from the nearby melting (Figure A1.3). In the northeastern North American coast, gravi- Greenland and Canadian glaciers is moderate. tational forces counteract dynamic effects because of the nearby The biggest uncertainties in regional projections of sea-level location of Greenland. Along the eastern Asian coast and in the rise are caused by insufficient knowledge of the contributions Indian Ocean, however, which are far from melting glaciers, both from the large ice sheets, especially from dynamic changes in the gravitational forces and ocean dynamics act to enhance sea-level Antarctic ice sheet. So far, semi-empirical models or approaches rise, which can be up to 20 percent higher than the global mean. using kinematic constraints11 have been used to bridge the gap In summary, projected sea-level rise by 2100 presents regional variations, which are generally contained within ±20 percent of 11 A kinematic constraint is, for example, estimating the maximum ice flux that can the global mean rise, although higher values are also possible in total pass through the narrow fjords around the Greenland ice sheet assuming an (Figure 32). Sea-level rise tends to be larger than the global mean at upper limit of a physically reasonable speed of the glaciers. 33 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided between the few available projections of ice-sheet contribution and undermined foreign aid investor confidence and thereby indirectly the need to provide estimates of future sea-level rise. It should be undermined the potential for adaptive capacity. noted that warming of 4°C above preindustrial temperatures by A recent detailed review (Simpson et al. 2010) of the conse- 2100 implies a commitment to further sea-level rise beyond this quences for 1 m sea-level rise in the Caribbean illustrates the scale point, even if temperatures were stabilized. of the damage that could be caused to small island developing states by the 2080s. Total cumulative capital GDP loss was estimated Risks of Sea-level Rise at US$68.2 billion equivalent to about 8.3 percent of projected GDP in 2080, including present value of permanently lost land, While a review of the regional impacts of sea level rise has not as well as relocation and reconstruction costs. Annual GDP costs been undertaken here, it is useful to indicate some particular risks. were estimated by the 2080s at $13.5 billion (1.6 percent of GDP), Because of high population densities and often inadequate mainly in the tourism and agricultural sectors. These estimates urban planning, coastal cities in developing regions are particu- do not include other potential factors, such as water supply costs, larly vulnerable to sea-level rise in concert with other impacts of increased health care costs, nonmarket damages, and increased climate change. Coastal and urban migration, with often associated tropical cyclone damages. The tourism industry, a major source of unplanned urban sprawl, still exacerbates risks in the future. Sea- economic growth in these regions, was found to be very sensitive level rise impacts are projected to be asymmetrical even within to sea-level rise. Large areas of important wetlands would be lost, regions and countries. Of the impacts projected for 31 developing affecting fisheries and water supply for many communities: losses countries, only ten cities account for two-thirds of the total expo- of 22 percent in Jamaica, 17 percent in Belize, and 15 percent in sure to extreme floods. Highly vulnerable cities are to be found in the Bahamas are predicted. Mozambique, Madagascar, Mexico, Venezuela, India, Bangladesh, Nicholls and Cazenave (2010) stress that geological processes Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam (Brecht et al. 2012) also drive sea-level rise and, therefore, its impacts. In additional, Because of the small population of small islands and poten- human activities, such as drainage and groundwater fluid with- tial problems with adaptation implementation, Nicholls et al. drawal, exacerbate subsidence in regions of high population density (2011) conclude that forced abandonment seems a possible outcome and economic activity. River deltas are particularly susceptible to even for small changes in sea level. Similarly, Barnett and Adger such additional stresses. These observations highlight the potential (2003) point out that physical impacts might breach a threshold that for coastal management to alleviate some of the projected impacts. pushes social systems into complete abandonment, as institutions At the same time, they hint at the double challenge of adapting to that could facilitate adaptation collapse. Projecting such collapses, climate change induced sea-level rise and impacts of increasing however, can potentially lead to self-fulfilling prophecies, if foreign coastal urbanization, particularly in developing regions. It thus aid decreases. Barnett and Adger cite Tuvalu as a case in which appears paramount to include sea-level rise projections in coastal negotiations over migration rights to New Zealand might have planning and decisions on long-term infrastructure developments. 34 Chapter 5 Focus: Changes in Extreme Temperatures A thorough assessment of extreme events by Field et al. (2012) concludes that it is very likely that the length, frequency, and intensity of heat waves will increase over most land areas, with more warming resulting in more extremes. Zwiers and Kharin (1998) report, when examining simulations with doubled CO2, (which typically results in about 3°C global mean warming), that the intensity of extremely hot days, with a return time of 20 years, increases between 5°C and 10°C over continents, with the larger values over North and South America and Eurasia, related to substantial decreases in regional soil moisture. Meehl and Tebaldi (2004) found significant increases in intensity, than preindustrial conditions. The authors address this gap in the duration, and frequency of three-day heat events under a business- science and provide statistical analysis of heat extremes in CMIP5 as-usual scenario. The intensity of such events increases by up to (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project) climate projections that 3°C in the Mediterranean and the western and southern United reach a 4°C world by the end of the 21st century (Taylor et al. States. Based on the SRES A2 transient greenhouse-gas scenario, 2012). Methods are described in Appendix 2. Schär et al. (2004) predict that toward the end of the century about every second European summer could be as warm as or warmer than the summer of 2003. Likewise, Stott et al. (2004) show that A Substantial Increase in Heat Extremes under unmitigated emission scenarios, the European summer of 2003 would be classed as an anomalously cold summer relative The authors’ statistical analysis indicates that monthly heat extremes to the new climate by the end of the century. Barnett et al. (2006) will increase dramatically in a world with global mean temperature show that days exceeding the present-day 99th percentile occur more more than 4°C warmer than preindustrial temperatures. Temperature than 20 times as frequently in a doubled CO2 climate. In addition, anomalies that are associated with highly unusual heat extremes extremely warm seasons are robustly predicted to become much today (namely, 3-sigma events occurring only once in several hun- more common in response to doubled CO2 (Barnett et al. 2006). dreds of years in a stationary climate)12 will have become the norm Based on the same ensemble of simulations, Clark, Brown, and over most (greater than 50 percent) continental areas by the end Murphy (2006) conclude that the intensity, duration, and frequency of the 21st century. Five-sigma events, which are now essentially of summer heat waves are expected to be substantially greater over all continents, with the largest increases over Europe, North and South America, and East Asia. 12 In general, the standard deviation (sigma) shows how far a variable tends to devi- These studies, which analyze extreme weather events in ate from its mean value. In the authors’ study it represents the possible year-to-year simulations with a doubling of CO2 and those following a business- changes in local monthly temperature because of natural variability. For a normal distribution, events warmer than 3 sigma away from the mean have a return time as-usual emissions path, can provide useful insights. Without of 740 years and events warmer than 5 sigma have a return time of several million exception, such studies show that heat extremes, whether on years. Monthly temperature data do not necessarily follow a normal distribution (for daily or seasonal time scales, greatly increase in climates more example, the distribution can have “long” tails making warm events more likely) and the return times can be different. Nevertheless, 3-sigma events are extremely than 3°C warmer than today. unlikely and 4-sigma events almost certainly have not occurred over the lifetime To the authors’ knowledge, no single study has specifically of key infrastructure. A warming of 5 sigma means that the average change in the analyzed the number of extremes in a world beyond 4°C warmer climate is 5 times larger than the normal year-to-year variation experienced today. 37 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided absent, will become common, especially in the tropics and in the area will likely experience a mean warming of more than 3-sigma Northern Hemisphere (NH) mid-latitudes during summertime. during the boreal winter and more than 4-sigma during the boreal According to the authors’ analysis, the most pronounced summer. This seasonal difference is due to enhanced warming warming will occur over land (see Figure 33, top row). Monthly over NH mid-latitudinal land areas during the boreal summer. mean temperatures over oceans will increase between 0°C and 4°C and over continents between 4°C and 10°C. Warming over continental regions in the tropics and in the Southern Hemisphere Shifts in Temperature by Region (SH) is distributed rather evenly without strong spatial and seasonal variations. The only exception is Argentina, which is In the authors’ analysis, a 4°C warmer world will consistently expected to see less wintertime (JJA) warming. In the NH, much cause temperatures in the tropics to shift by more than 6 standard stronger spatial and seasonal variations in continental warming deviations for all months of the year (Figure 33 bottom panels). patterns are observed. During the boreal winter, strong warming Particularly, countries in tropical South America, Central Africa, in the near Arctic region is observed due to the so-called “arctic and all tropical islands in the Pacific will see unprecedented amplification” effect, resulting in temperature anomalies of over extreme temperatures become the new norm in all months of 10°C. Two NH regions can be identified that are expected to see the year. In fact, a temperature shift of 6 standard deviations or more warming in summertime than in wintertime: The subtropical more implies a new climatic regime with the coolest months in region consisting of the Mediterranean, northern Africa, and the 2080–2100 being substantially warmer than the warmest months Middle East, as well as the contiguous United States, are likely to in the end of the 20th century. In the SH mid-latitudes, monthly see monthly summer temperatures rise by more than 6°C. temperatures over the continents by the end of the 21st century All land areas show a mean warming of at least 1-sigma above lie in the range of 2- to 4-sigma above the present-day mean in the present-day mean and most land areas (greater than 80 per- both seasons. Over large regions of the NH mid-latitudes, the con- cent) show warming of at least 2-sigma. Roughly half of the land tinental warming (in units of sigma) is much stronger in summer, Figure 33: Multimodel mean of monthly warming over the 21st century (2080–2100 relative to present day) for the months of JJA (left) and DJF (right) in units of degrees Celsius (top) and in units of local standard deviation of temperature (bottom). The intensity of the color scale has been reduced over the oceans for distinction. 38 Foc u s: C h anges in Extr eme Tem perat ures reaching 4- to 5-sigma, than in winter. This includes large regions for example, are expected to approach 35°C, which is about 9°C of North America, southern Europe, and central Asia, including warmer than the warmest July estimated for the present day. This the Tibetan plateau. strong increase in the intensity of summertime extremes over NH From this analysis, the tropics can be identified as high continental regions is likely because of soil moisture feedbacks impact regions, as highlighted in previous studies (Diffenbaugh (Schär and et al. 2004; Zwiers and Kharin 1998). Once the soil and Scherer 2011). Here, continental warming of more than 4°C has completely dried out due to strong evaporation during heat shifts the local climate to a fundamentally new regime. This waves, no more heat can be converted into latent heat, thus further implies that anomalously cold months at the end of the 21st increasing temperatures. This effect is much more important dur- century will be substantially warmer than record warm months ing summers (Schär and et al. 2004) and has been a characteristic experienced today. of major heat and drought events in Europe and North America. Outside the tropics, the NH subtropics and mid-latitudes are expected to experience much more intense heat extremes during the boreal summer. In the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle Frequency of Significantly Warmer East, the Tibetan plateau, and the contiguous United States, almost Months all (80 percent to 100 percent) summer months will be warmer than 3-sigma and approximately half (about 50 percent) will be Figure 34 shows the frequency of months warmer than 3-, 4-, warmer than 5-sigma. This implies that temperatures of the warm- and 5-sigma occurring during 2080–2100 for JJA and DJF. This est July within the period 2080–2100 in the Mediterranean region, figure clearly shows that the tropics would move to a new Figure 34: Multimodel mean of the percentage of months during 2080–2100 that are warmer than 3- (top), 4- (middle) and 5-sigma (bottom) relative to the present-day climatology, for the months of JJA (left) and DJF (right). The intensity of the color scale has been reduced over the oceans for distinction. 39 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided climatic regime. In the authors’ analysis, even months warmer over some areas of NH continents, including the eastern United than 5-sigma are very common over tropical regions, reaching 100 States and central Europe. percent frequencies in central Africa and parts of tropical South Figure 35 plots the multi-model mean of the warmest July and America. In addition, the tropical ocean maintains anomalies January temperatures encountered during the period 2080–2100. above 3-sigma 100 percent of the time for all months. Over SH The warmest July month in the Sahara and the Middle East will see extra-tropical land areas, the patterns are again broadly similar temperatures as high as 45°C, or 6–7°C above the warmest July between the warm and cold season. Australia and Argentina are simulated for the present day. In the Mediterranean and central expected to see summer months (DJF) warmer than 3-sigma about United States, the warmest July in the period 2080–2100 will see 50 percent of the time, but 5-sigma events will still be rare. In the temperatures close to 35°C, or up to 9°C above the warmest July NH mid-latitudes, especially summertime extremes (3-, 4- and for the present day. Finally, in the Southern Hemisphere, record 5-sigma events) will increase dramatically. In the Mediterranean, monthly summer extremes (namely, January) will be as warm as North Africa, and Middle East almost all (80 percent to 100 per- 40°C in Australia, or about 5°C warmer than the most extreme cent) summer months will be warmer than 3-sigma and about present-day January. Note that temperatures presented here are half (about 50 percent) will be warmer than 5-sigma. The same monthly averages, which include night-time temperatures. Day- approximate values hold for summer extremes over the contiguous time temperatures can be expected to significantly exceed the United States and the Tibetan plateau. For the Mediterranean, monthly average. North Africa, and Middle East, the strong increase in summer- Monthly heat extremes exceeding 3 standard deviations or more time extremes is directly related to the enhanced summertime that occur during summer months are associated with the most warming trends in these areas (Figure 33). In contrast, the high prolonged, and therefore high-impact, heat waves. The authors’ number of summertime extremes over the Tibetan plateau is due results show that the number of such prolonged heat waves will to much smaller standard deviations here in JJA in combination increase dramatically in a 4°C warmer world over essentially all with a moderate warming. Over the continental both effects play continental regions, with the tropics and the NH subtropics and a role. Warm extremes during the boreal winter hardly increase mid-latitudes most severely impacted. This is consistent with Figure 35: Multimodel mean compilation of the most extreme warm monthly temperature experienced at each location in the period 2080–2100 for the months of July (left) and January (right) in absolute temperatures (top) and anomalies compared to the most extreme monthly temperature simulated during present day (bottom). The intensity of the color scale has been reduced over the oceans for distinction. 40 Foc u s: C h anges in Extr eme Tem perat ures modeling studies on the increase of heat wave intensity over most destructive as mortality and morbidity rates are strongly the 21st century based on business-as-usual emission scenarios linked to heat wave duration, with excess deaths increasing each (Meehl and Tebaldi 2004; Schär and et al. 2004; Stott et al. 2004) or additional hot day (Kalkstein and Smoyer 1993; Smoyer 1998; Tan doubled CO2 simulations (Barnett et al. 2005; Clark et al. 2006; et al. 2006; Fouillet et al. 2006). Temperature conditions experi- Zwiers and Kharin 1998). These results also corroborate recent enced during these recent events would become the new norm in modeling studies indicating that the tropics are especially vulnerable a 4°C warmer world and a completely new class of heat waves, to unprecedented heat extremes in the next century (Beaumont with magnitudes never experienced before in the 20th century, et al. 2011; Diffenbaugh and Scherer 2011). would occur regularly. Societies and ecosystems can be expected to be especially vulnerable to the latter as they are not adapted to extremes never experienced before. In particular, the agricultural The Impacts of More Frequent Heat sector would be strongly impacted as extreme heat can cause severe Waves yield losses (Lobell et al. 2012) (see Section 6). Ecosystems in tropical and sub-tropical regions would be particularly vulnerable Given the humanitarian impacts of recent extreme heat waves, to climate change. The authors’ analysis show that the increase in the strong increase in the number of extreme heat waves in a absolute temperatures relative to the past variability is largest in 4°C world as reported here would pose enormous adaptation these regions and thus the impacts on ecosystems would become challenges for societies. Prolonged heat waves are generally the extreme here (see Section 6). 41 Chapter 6 Sectoral Impacts The following presents a brief overview of the most recent findings on impacts within a selection of sectors. Neither the selec- tion of sectors nor of literature cited claims to be exhaustive. Furthermore, the comparability between studies within sectors or across sectors is complicated by differences in underlying emission scenarios and associated temperatures. Where possible, attempts have been made to relate degrees of warming to preindustrial levels. Temperature increases relative to preindustrial levels have been calculated based on the Climate Research Unit Temperature Data13 (Jones et al. 2012). In light of the knowledge gaps with respect to future effects of • At lower latitudes, especially in seasonally dry and tropical climate change, there are two international research projects that regions, crop productivity is projected to decrease for even small were recently initiated to quantify impacts within a sector and local temperature increases (1 to 2°C) which would increase across sectors at different levels of global warming, including the risk of hunger (medium confidence) {WGII 5.4, SPM}. high-end scenarios. First, the Agriculture Model Intercomparison • Globally, the potential for food production is projected to and Improvement Project AgMIP (launched in October 2010) is increase with increases in local average temperature over a bringing together a large number of biophysical and agro-economic range of 1 to 3°C, but above this it is projected to decrease modelling groups explicitly covering regional to global scales to (medium confidence) {WGII 5.4, 5.5, SPM}. compare their results and improve their models with regard to observations (Rötter, Carter, Olesen, and Porter 2011). Second, These findings clearly indicate a growing risk for low-latitude the first Inter-Sectoral Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP) regions at quite low levels of temperature increase and a grow- was launched in December 2011 with a fast-track phase designed ing risk for systemic global problems above a warming of a few to provide a synthesis of cross-sectoral global impact projections degrees Celsius. While a comprehensive review of literature is at different levels of global warming (Schiermeier 2012). Both forthcoming in the IPCC AR5, the snapshot overview of recent projects will profit from the new RCPs where the highest reaches scientific literature provided here illustrates that the concerns about 5°C of global warming. identified in the AR4 are confirmed by recent literature and in important cases extended. In particular, impacts of extreme heat waves deserve mention here for observed agricultural impacts Agriculture (see also Chapter 2). This chapter will focus on the latest findings regarding possible The overall conclusions of IPCC AR4 concerning food production limits and risks to large-scale agriculture production because of and agriculture included the following: climate change, summarizing recent studies relevant to this risk assessment, including at high levels of global warming approach- • Crop productivity is projected to increase slightly at mid- to ing 4°C. In particular, it will deliberately highlight important high latitudes for local mean temperature increases of up to 1 to 3°C depending on the crop, and then decrease beyond that in some regions (medium confidence) {WGII 5.4, SPM}. 13 (http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/temperature/ – October 17, 2012. 43 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided findings that point to the risks of assuming a forward projection agricultural productivity. Geographical shifts in production pat- of historical trends. terns resulting from the effects of global warming could further Projections for food and agriculture over the 21st century indi- escalate distributional issues in the future. While this will not be cate substantial challenges irrespective of climate change. As early taken into consideration here, it illustrates the plethora of factors as 2050, the world’s population is expected to reach about 9 billion to take into account when thinking of challenges to promoting people (Lutz and Samir 2010) and demand for food is expected to food security in a warming world. increase accordingly. Based on the observed relationship between New results published since 2007 point to a more rapidly per capita GDP and per capita demand for crop calories (human escalating risk of crop yield reductions associated with warming consumption, feed crops, fish production and losses during food than previously predicted (Schlenker and Lobell 2010; Schlenker production), Tilman et al. (2011) project a global increase in the and Roberts 2009). In the period since 1980, patterns of global crop demand for crops by about 100 percent from 2005 to 2050. Other production have presented significant indications of an adverse estimates for the same period project a 70 percent increase of effect resulting from climate trends and variability, with maize demand (Alexandratos 2009). Several projections suggest that declining by 3.8 percent and wheat production by 5.5 percent global cereal and livestock production may need to increase by compared to a case without climate trends. A significant portion between 60 and 100 percent to 2050, depending on the warming of increases in crop yields from technology, CO2 fertilization, and scenario (Thornton et al. 2011). other changes may have been offset by climate trends in some The historical context can on the one hand provide reassurance countries (Lobell et al. 2011). This indication alone casts some that despite growing population, food production has been able doubt on future projections based on earlier crop models. to increase to keep pace with demand and that despite occasional In relation to the projected effects of climate change three fluctuations, food prices generally stabilize or decrease in real interrelated factors are important: temperature-induced effect, terms (Godfray, Crute, et al. 2010). Increases in food production precipitation-induced effect, and the CO2-fertilization effect. The have mainly been driven by more efficient use of land, rather than following discussion will focus only on these biophysical factors. by the extension of arable land, with the former more widespread Other factors that can damage crops, for example, the elevated in rich countries and the latter tending to be practiced in poor levels of tropospheric ozone (van Groenigen et al. 2012), fall outside countries (Tilman et al. 2011). While grain production has more the scope of this report and will not be addressed. than doubled, the area of land used for arable agriculture has Largely beyond the scope of this report are the far-reaching and only increased by approximately 9 percent (Godfray, Beddington, uneven adverse implications for poverty in many regions arising et al. 2010). from the macroeconomic consequences of shocks to global agri- However, although the expansion of agricultural produc- cultural production from climate change. It is necessary to stress tion has proved possible through technological innovation and here that even where overall food production is not reduced or is improved water-use efficiency, observation and analysis point to even increased with low levels of warming, distributional issues a significant level of vulnerability of food production and prices mean that food security will remain a precarious matter or worsen to the consequences of climate change, extreme weather, and as different regions are impacted differently and food security is underlying social and economic development trends. There are further challenged by a multitude of nonclimatic factors. some indications that climate change may reduce arable land in low-latitude regions, with reductions most pronounced in Africa, Temperature-induced Effects Latin America, and India (Zhang and Cai 2011). For example, flooding of agricultural land is also expected to severely impact One of the significant developments since the IPCC AR4 relates crop yields in the future: 10.7 percent of South Asia´s agricultural to improvements in understanding of the effect of an increase in land is projected to be exposed to inundation, accompanied by a temperature on crop production. In broad terms, the overall pat- 10 percent intensification of storm surges, with 1 m sea-level rise tern of expected responses to temperature increases has been well (Lange et al. 2010). Given the competition for land that may be established for some time. Rising temperature may increase yields used for other human activities (for example, urbanization and at higher latitudes where low temperatures are a limiting factor on biofuel production), which can be expected to increase as climate growth; for example, winter wheat varieties become suitable in change places pressure on scarce resources, it is likely that the main comparison to lower-yielding summer varieties (Müller et al. 2009). increase in production will have to be managed by an intensification At lower latitudes, increases in temperature alone are expected to of agriculture on the same—or possibly even reduced—amount of reduce yields from grain crops. The effect is due to the fact that land (Godfray, Beddington et al. 2010; Smith et al. 2010). Declines grain crops mature earlier at higher temperatures, reducing the in nutrient availability (for example, phosphorus), as well as the critical growth period and leading to lower yields, an effect that spread in pests and weeds, could further limit the increase of is well studied and documented. A reduction of 8 percent per 1°C 44 Secto ral I m pacts of regional mean warming during the growing season is estimated Table 3: Projected Impacts on Different Crops Without and With from U.K. field conditions (Mitchell et al. 1995), which is in line Adaptation with estimated 3 to 10 percent reduction per 1°C for wheat yields Without adaptation With adaptation in China (You et al. 2009). Spring wheat –14 to –25% –4 to –10% Between 2000 and 2050, and for warming levels of between 1.8°C and 2.8°C (2.2°C and 3.2°C compared to preindustrial Maize –19 to –34% –6 to –18% temperatures), Deryng et al. (2011) project decreases in yields of Soybean –15 to –30% –12 to –26% 14 to 25 percent for wheat, 19 to 34 percent for maize, and 15 Source: Deryng et al. 2011. to 30 percent for soybean (without accounting for possible CO2 fertilization effects). These authors also show that when adaptive measures are taken into account, overall losses can be significantly sown areas are expected for Africa and Oceania, reaching about 59 reduced. By simulating adaptation with respect to changes in percent by 2100 in each region. Climate projections of 20 General planting and harvesting date, as well as changes in cultivar type in Circulation Models were used to estimate the change in drought terms of rates of maturation, they find that adaptation can reduce disaster affected area under different emission scenarios. In the losses by about a factor of two for spring wheat and maize and considered scenarios, global mean temperature change in 2100 by 15 percent for soybeans (Table 3). reaches 4.1°C relative to 1990 temperatures or 4.9°C relative to Not included in the analysis of Deryng et al. (2011) are cultivar preindustrial values (Li et al. 2009). adaptations for heat and drought tolerance. However, Challinor et The regions expected to see increasing drought severity and al. (2010) indicate that the negative effects of climate change on extent over the next 30 to 90 years are in southern Africa, the spring wheat yields in northeastern China can be averted through United States, southern Europe, Brazil, and Southeast Asia (Dai either developing cultivars with greater drought or heat tolerance, 2012). Increasing temperatures (with higher evaporation) in com- or that yields can even possibly be increased if both are pursued. bination with decreasing precipitation in already drought prone These results suggest that crop adaptation could conceivably areas, particularly in the tropics and subtropics, mean a greater play a major role in ensuring food security in a changing climate, threat to food security. although realization of this potential will likely require substantial investment in developing suitable cultivars. Uncertainty in CO2-fertilization Effect Recent research also indicates that there may be larger nega- tive effects at higher and more extreme temperatures, giving rise The effects of the increasing CO2 concentrations on crop yields to a growing concern with respect to the sensitivity of crop yields represent one of the most critical assumptions with respect to to temperature increases and, in particular, extreme temperature biophysical crop modeling. However, there is ongoing debate about events. There seem to be larger negative effects at higher tem- the magnitude of this effect under field conditions (Ainsworth peratures (Semenov et al. 2012), as documented in higher yield et al. 2009). In broad terms, if the effects of CO2 fertilization losses per degree of regional mean warming in Australia (Asseng occurs to the extent assumed in laboratory studies, then global et al. 2011) and India (Lobell et al. 2012). In particular, there is crop production could be increased; if not, then a decrease is an emerging risk of nonlinear effects on crop yields because of possible. Different assumptions about the efficiency of this pro- the damaging effect of temperature extremes. Field experiments cess have the potential to change the direction and sign of the have shown that crops are highly sensitive to temperatures above projected yield changes between 2000 and 2050 on the global certain thresholds (see also Chapter 2). This effect is expected to level for a temperature increase in the range of 1.8°C to 3.4°C be highly relevant in a 4°C world. Most current crop models do (SRES A1b, A2, B1, equivalent to 2.5°C to 4.1°C). For example, not account for this effect, leading to recent calls for an “overhaul” Müller et al. (2010) simulate a global mean increase in yields of of current crop-climate models (Rötter et al. 2011). 13 percent when fully accounting for the CO2 fertilization effect, while without CO2 fertilization effect a decrease of 7 percent is Precipitation-induced Effects projected by 2050. Even if such a yield increase resulting from CO2 fertilization were achieved, Müller et al. (2010) conclude that Recent projections and evaluations against historical records point increased crop yields may not be sufficient to balance popula- to a substantially increased risk of drought affecting large parts tion increases in several regions, including Sub-Saharan Africa, of the world (see also Chapter 3). The total “drought disaster- the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and Latin America affected” area is predicted to increase from currently 15.4 percent and the Caribbean. of global cropland to 44 ±6 percent by 2100 based on a modified When considering risks to future crop production and attempting Palmer Drought Severity Index. The largest fractions of affected to account for the effects of CO2 fertilization, it is also important to 45 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided recall that a key constraint of the carbon fertilization effect is that it Another study for China (Challinor et al. 2010), involving wheat would operate in situations where enough nutrients (for example, and also taking a probabilistic approach, finds a significant increase phosphorus and nitrogen) are available. While the response to in the risk of crop failure in the future arising from a combination enhanced CO2 varies across crop types, optimal temperatures for of increased heat and water stress, after taking into account the a selection of crop types (C4, for example maize) are higher than CO2 fertilization effect. This study shows that adaptation measures others (C3, for example rice), so that response to temperature may be able to ameliorate many of the risks. varies as well.14 The fertilization effect is therefore likely to be more or less offset due to higher temperatures depending on what Implications for Economic Growth and crop is sown. The magnitude of the CO2 fertilization effect in a Human Development 4°C world thus remains uncertain. Hertel et al. (2010) use updated estimates of the effects of Combined Effects climate change on crop yields to explore the consequences for poverty and welfare of climate change using the Global While the preceding sections have looked at risks arising from Trade Analysis Project model. In a scenario that results in a individual factors, the combined effect of different factors can 1.5°C temperature increase as soon as 2030, Hertel et al. (2010) complicate the picture to a considerable extent. A recent study report that effects on welfare as a result of the direct impact by Tao and Zhang (Tao and Zhang 2010) of maize production in of climate change on crops will be felt most in Sub-Saharan China at different levels of warming illustrates some of the com- Africa, followed by China and the United States. In addition, plexities here, while still pointing to a substantial level of risk. adverse effects on future cereal yields and reduced food secu- In the study, regional changes in climate were linked to global rity potentially increase the risk of hunger or undernutrition, mean temperature increases of 1, 2, and 3°C above 1961–1990 often differentially affecting children. It is well established levels (1.4°C, 2.4°C and 3.4°C above preindustrial temperatures, that child undernutrition has adverse implications for lifetime respectively). These authors adopted a probabilistic approach economic earning potential and health. Recent projections of using different climate models to predict regional climatic changes the consequences of a warming of 2°C to 2.5°C (2.7°C to 3.2°C over the next century to drive a process-based crop model to relative to preindustrial temperatures) by the 2050s for childhood project maize yields. The results shown in Table 4 indicate that for the high end of yield losses there is a consistent increase with increasing global mean warming for both rainfed and irrigated 14 C3 plants include more than 85% of plants on Earth (e.g. most trees, wheat maize, with the loss larger without the CO2 fertilization effect. and rice) and respond well to moist conditions and to additional carbon dioxide in However, precipitation changes turn out to be more positive at the atmosphere. C4 plants (for example, sugarcane) are more efficient in water and energy use and outperform C3 plants in hot and dry conditions. C3 and C4 plants one end of the probability distribution, as the loss in yield might differ in the way they assimilate CO2 into their system to perform photosynthesis. be reduced above 2°C warming. The median estimates in all During the first steps in CO2 assimilation, C3 plants form a pair of three carbon-atom cases show increasing losses. molecules. C4 plants, on the other hand, initially form four carbon-atom molecules. Table 4. Projected Changes in Median Maize Yields under Different Management Options and Global Mean Warming Levels 1°C (1.4°C) 2°C (2.4°C) 3°C (3.4°C) Experiment above 1961–1990 above 1961–1990 above 1961–1990 Irrigated maize –1.4% to –10.9% –9.8% to –21.7% –4.3% to –32.1% No CO2 fertilization Irrigated maize –1.6% to –7.8% –10.2% to –16.4% –3.9% to –26.6% With CO2 fertilization Rainfed maize –1.0% to –22.2% −7.9% to −27.6% −4.6% to −33.7% No CO2 fertilization Rainfed maize 0.7% to –10.8% −5.6% to −18.1% −1.6% to −25.9% With CO2 fertilization Source: Tao & Zhang 2010. 46 Secto ral I m pacts stunting indicate substantial increases, particularly in severe are projected for the northern high latitudes, that is, northern stunting in Sub-Saharan Africa (23 percent) and South Asia North America, northern Europe, and Siberia. In the ensemble (62 percent) (Lloyd, Kovats, and Chalabi 2011). average, mean annual runoff decreases in a 2°C world by around 30, 20, 40, and 20 percent in the Danube, Mississippi, Amazon, and Murray Darling river basins, respectively, while it increases Water Resources by around 20 percent in both the Nile and the Ganges basins, compared to the 1961–190 baseline period. Thus, according to It is well established that climate change will bring about sub- Fung et al. (2011), all these changes are approximately doubled stantial changes in precipitation patterns, as well as in surface in magnitude in a 4°C world. temperature and other quantities that govern evapotranspiration Fung et al. (2011) also look at a simple water stress index, using (see for example, Meehl, Stocker, and Collins 2007). The associated the ratio of annual mean runoff to population in a given basin as changes in the terrestrial water cycle are likely to affect the nature a measure of water resources per capita. The SRES A1B emissions and availability of natural water resources and, consequently, scenario, from which the 2°C and 4°C climate projections are human societies that rely on them. As agriculture is the primary derived, is set in relation to a scenario of future population growth water consumer globally, potential future water scarcity would put based on a medium UN population projection. In a 2°C world, at risk many societies’ capacity to feed their growing populations. relatively small runoff changes combined with large population However, other domestic and industrial water uses, including cooling growth over the next few decades mean that changes in water stress requirements, for example, for thermal power plants, as well as the would mostly be dominated by population changes, not climate functioning of natural ecosystems also depend on the availability changes. Increasing water demand would exacerbate water stress of water. The magnitude and timing of surface water availability in most regions, regardless of the direction of change in runoff. is projected to be substantially altered in a warmer world. It is However, in a 4°C world, climate changes would become large very likely that many countries that already face water shortages enough to dominate changes in water stress in many cases. Again, today will suffer from increased water stress in a 4°C world and water stress is expected to increase in southern Europe, the United that major investments in water management infrastructure would States, most parts of South America, Africa, and Australia, while be needed in many places to alleviate the adverse impacts, and it is expected to decrease in high latitude regions. A fragmented tap the potential benefits, of changes in water availability. In the picture emerges for South and East Asia, where increased runoff following, recent model predictions are referenced in order to from monsoon rainfall in some areas competes with population- provide an outline of the nature and direction of change expected driven increases in demand (while other areas may see reduced for warming of 4°C and beyond. monsoon runoff). There are complexities beyond this large-scale, annual mean Changes to Levels of Precipitation and picture. In five of the six major river basins studied in detail by Water Stress in a 2°C World and in a 4°C+ Fung et al. (2011), the seasonality of runoff increases along with World global warming, that is, wet seasons become wetter and dry sea- sons become drier. This means that while an increase in annual Fung et al. (2011) explicitly investigate the difference between mean runoff, for example, in the Nile or the Ganges basin may a 4°C world and a 2°C world, using the MacPDM hydrological appear beneficial at first sight, it is likely to be distributed unevenly model, which is driven by a large perturbed-physics climate model across the seasons, possibly leading to increased flooding in the ensemble based on the HadCM3L climate model. Because they high-flow season, while hardly improving water stress in the define the 1961–1990 average temperature as their baseline, their low-flow season. This would have severe adverse consequences 4°C world is actually about 4.4°C warmer than the preindustrial one. for affected populations, especially if the seasonality of runoff The bottom line of this study is that globally changes in change would be out of phase with that of demand, such as for annual runoff are expected to be amplified once warming has crop growing or the cooling of thermal power plants. Major invest- reached 4°C compared to one in which it has reached 2°C; that ments in storage facilities would be required in such cases in order is, on a large scale, the hydrological response to global warm- to control water availability across the year and actually reap the ing appears rather linear. Regions experiencing drier conditions local benefits of any increases in runoff. For such basins as the —namely, generating less runoff—under 2°C warming are pro- Ganges, another reason to strengthen water management capaci- jected to become even drier under 4°C (and vice versa). Drier ties is that hydrological projections for the Indian monsoon region conditions are projected for southern Europe, Africa (except are particularly uncertain because of the inability of most climate some areas in the northeast), large parts of North America and models to simulate accurately the Indian monsoon. Quantitative South America, and Australia, among others. Wetter conditions results for this region based on a single climate model (as used by 47 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Fung et al. [2011]) must be taken with great caution. Substantial reservoirs, and other open water bodies, but also that of the “green improvement of climate models is needed to be able to make water” contained in the soil. The latter is globally more important more robust statements about future water stress in this region. for sustaining agricultural productivity. Moreover, Gerten et al. The uncertainty related to the disagreement among climate (2011) use a combined vegetation and hydrology model (LPJmL) model projections is highlighted in the study of Arnell et al. (2011), to consistently evaluate water availability and water requirements who contrast a reference scenario approaching 4°C warming (above for crop production. As the efficiency of crops in utilizing available preindustrial temperatures) by 2100 with a mitigation scenario that water differs greatly among regions—depending on regional climate, stabilizes below 2°C. They employ the same hydrological model as but also management practices—the spatially explicit comparison in the study described above, but use projections by four different of agricultural water requirements to green-blue water (GWBW) climate models, which all exhibit different patterns of precipitation availability yields a more accurate pattern of water scarcity than change under global warming, resulting in different patterns of runoff the application of a globally uniform threshold. change produced by the hydrological model. While in all four cases In their projections for the 2080s under the SRES A2 scenario an increase in annual mean runoff is projected for the high northern (which implies a warming by approximately 4°C compared to latitudes and a decrease for the eastern Mediterranean and southern preindustrial temperatures), Gerten et al. (2011) find that 43 to Africa, there is no consensus on the direction of change for most 50 percent of the global population will be living in water-scarce other regions. Despite this disagreement in spatial patterns, however, countries, compared to 28 percent today. Water scarcity (defined the difference between a 2°C world and a 4°C world is similar in all as the ratio between the GWBW availability and the water require- four cases. According to Arnell et al. (2011) about 50 percent of the ment for producing a balanced diet) is very likely to be amplified runoff changes in either direction expected with warming of 4°C due to climate change in many countries that are already water could be avoided if warming were constrained to 2°C. scarce today, mainly in Northern and Eastern Africa and South In terms of water stress, however, the difference appears to be Asia. However, compared to this climate-change only signal, the smaller. In a 2°C world, about 20 to 30 percent less people globally (uncertain) direct effect of rising CO2 concentrations on lowering are expected to be affected by increased water stress, based on plant water requirements might ease water scarcity over East Africa per-capita availability, than in a 4°C world. Moreover, based on the and South Asia. Additional countries, particularly in Sahelian and ratio of water withdrawals to availability, about 15 to 47 percent equatorial Africa, are projected to become water scarce because of less people would be affected. The large range of this estimate projected population changes, rather than climate change. is due to differences between the four climate change patterns. Thus, when it comes to the difference between a 2°C world and A Note of Caution: Limits to Anticipating a 4°C world, much more uncertainty is associated with the actual Water Insecurity in a 4°C World societal impacts of climate change than with the physical change in runoff. This is partly because the geographical distribution of There are some common results among the few recent studies runoff changes, which determines what proportion of the global that assess the impact of 4°C warming on global water resources population will be affected by runoff increases or decreases, is that have been referenced above. Studies that compare different very uncertain. In addition, it is hard to assess which of the simpli- levels of warming conclude that changes found at lower levels of fied metrics used in these studies better reflects the actual water warming are expected to be amplified in a 4°C world, while the stress that people experience. Although such simplified metrics direction and spatial patterns of change would be similar. The as per-capita availability or the ratio of withdrawals to availability climate impact on global water resources will likely be spatially are useful for a large-scale impact assessment, actual water stress heterogeneous, with increasing water availability mainly in the in a given location depends on many other factors that are not high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, and decreasing water reflected in these metrics (Rijsberman 2006). availability in many regions across the tropics and subtropics, including large parts of Africa, the Mediterranean, the Middle The Availability of Water for Food East, and parts of Asia. Regardless of which indicator of water Production scarcity is used, it is clear that many world regions are at risk of being more severely impacted under strong climate change, but Arguably one of the most important of these other factors when it some regions are expected to experience advantages because of comes to direct impacts on humans is the amount of water actu- such factors as regional precipitation increases, low population, ally required to produce a certain amount and type of food in a or high agricultural water use efficiency. Another factor that will given location. Gerten et al. (2011) attempt to take this factor into likely complicate the picture in terms of which regions will see account and, for this purpose, develop an indicator that not only increased demand for water, is related to water use in energy reflects the availability of “blue water” contained in rivers, lakes, production. Increased demand in different parts of the world 48 Secto ral I m pacts could lead to greater tensions and conflicts over claims to water population growth and by the fact that many of these countries sources and priority of water uses. are already water scarce and thus have little capacity to satisfy the However, the exact spatial patterns of change in water stress growing demand for water resources. Conversely, positive impacts remain uncertain, mainly because of the persistent shortcomings of climate change are expected to occur primarily in countries that of global climate models in simulating future precipitation pat- have higher adaptive capacities and lower population growth rates. terns. This is particularly relevant in the Indian monsoon domain, In the context of a 4°C world, the strong dependence of water where a large share of the world’s population depends highly stress on population also means that the timing of the warming on natural water resources, which are already under significant is important. Depending on the scenario, world population is stress today, while up to now no robust statement can be made projected to grow until the second half of this century, but this about the future response of monsoon rainfall to climate change. trend is expected to reverse towards the year 2100 and beyond, Moreover, while this climate model uncertainty is apparent from shrinking the world population. Thus, in a rapidly warming world, the studies discussed here, it should also be noted that each of the most adverse impacts on water availability associated with a these studies only uses a single hydrological model. As hydrological 4°C world may coincide with maximum water demand as world models have many structural differences, systematic comparison population peaks (Fung et al. 2011). of different models is necessary to quantify the associated uncer- tainty, but has hardly been carried out, particularly for scenarios near 4°C warming. Ecosystems and Biodiversity The above studies also highlight the difficulty of assessing on-the-ground water stress or scarcity on a global scale. Locations Ecosystems and their species provide a range of important goods around the world differ greatly in water management practices, and services for human society. These include water, food, cultural water-use efficiency of agriculture and other water users, and adap- and other values. In the AR4 an assessment of climate change tation options to changing water availability, among other factors. effects on ecosystems and their services found the following: Moreover, looking only at long-term averages of seasonal-mean • If greenhouse gas emissions and other stresses continue at or water availability neglects the importance of subseasonal processes. above current rates, the resilience of many ecosystems is likely Climate change is expected to alter the seasonal distribution of to be exceeded by an unprecedented combination of change runoff and soil water availability, likely increasing the number of in climate, associated disturbances (for example, flooding, such extreme events as floods and droughts, both of which can drought, wildfire, insects, and ocean acidification) and other have devastating effects, even if annual mean numbers remain stressors (global change drivers) including land use change, unchanged. In order to better estimate climate change impacts pollution and over-exploitation of resources. on water resources at potentially vulnerable locations, future water resources research will thus increasingly have to consider • Approximately 20 to 30 percent of plant and animal species finer spatial and temporal scales. Besides changes in runoff and assessed so far are likely to be at increased risk of extinction, if soil moisture, there are many other physical processes that are increases in global average temperature exceed of 2–3° above important for a comprehensive assessment of water related climate preindustrial levels. change impacts, including groundwater extraction and recharge, • For increases in global average temperature exceeding 2 to 3° salination of aquifers and estuaries, melting glaciers, water tem- above preindustrial levels and in concomitant atmospheric peratures, sediment fluxes, and the ability of existing hydrological CO2 concentrations, major changes are projected in ecosystem features—both natural (for example, river beds) and artificial (for structure and function, species’ ecological interactions and example, dams and reservoirs)—to handle changed water flows. shifts in species’ geographical ranges, with predominantly Glacial runoff, for example, is critical in the dry season in India, negative consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem goods China, and South America. Global-scale studies of these factors and services, such as water and food supply. are rare, let alone for temperatures at or above 4°C. Finally, one major outcome of the above studies is that it is It is known that past large-scale losses of global ecosystems primarily the combination of climate change, population change, and species extinctions have been associated with rapid climate and changes in patterns of demand for water resources that will change combined with other ecological stressors. Loss and/or determine future water stress around the world, rather than climate degradation of ecosystems, and rates of extinction because of change alone. This will be further shaped by levels of adaptive human pressures over the last century or more, which have inten- capacity. In many countries, particularly in the developing world, sified in recent decades, have contributed to a very high rate of the adverse impacts of decreasing runoff and total water avail- extinction by geological standards. It is well established that loss ability would probably be greatly exacerbated by high rates of or degradation of ecosystem services occurs as a consequence of 49 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided species extinctions, declining species abundance, or widespread driven by gradual climate changes and extreme events can lead to shifts in species and biome distributions (Leadley et al. 2010). reduced fecundity (Campbell et al. 2009; Inouye, 2008). Climate change is projected to exacerbate the situation. This Climate change also has the potential to facilitate the spread section outlines the likely consequences for some key ecosystems and establishment of invasive species (pests and weeds) (Hellmann, and for biodiversity. The literature tends to confirm the conclu- Byers, Bierwagen, & Dukes, 2008; Rahel & Olden, 2008) with often sions from the AR4 outlined above. detrimental implications for ecosystem services and biodiversity. Despite the existence of detailed and highly informative case Human land-use changes are expected to further exacerbate studies, upon which this section will draw, it is also important to climate change driven ecosystem changes, particularly in the recall that there remain many uncertainties (Bellard, Bertelsmeier, tropics, where rising temperatures and reduced precipitation are Leadley, Thuiller, and Courchamp, 2012). However, threshold expected to have major impacts (Campbell et al., 2009; Lee & Jetz, behavior is known to occur in biological systems (Barnosky et al. 2008). Ecosystems will be affected by the increased occurrence of 2012) and most model projections agree on major adverse con- extremes such as forest loss resulting from droughts and wildfire sequences for biodiversity in a 4°C world (Bellard et al., 2012). exacerbated by land use and agricultural expansion (Fischlin et With high levels of warming, coalescing human induced stresses al., 2007). on ecosystems have the potential to trigger large-scale ecosystem Climate change also has the potential to catalyze rapid shifts collapse (Barnosky et al. 2012). Furthermore, while uncertainty in ecosystems such as sudden forest loss or regional loss of remains in the projections, there is a risk not only of major loss agricultural productivity resulting from desertification (Barnosky of valuable ecosystem services, particularly to the poor and the et al., 2012). The predicted increase in extreme climate events most vulnerable who depend on them, but also of feedbacks being would also drive dramatic ecosystem changes (Thibault and initiated that would result in ever higher CO2 emissions and thus Brown 2008; Wernberg, Smale, and Thomsen 2012). One such rates of global warming. extreme event that is expected to have immediate impacts on Significant effects of climate change are already expected for ecosystems is the increased rate of wildfire occurrence. Climate warming well below 4°C. In a scenario of 2.5°C warming, severe change induced shifts in the fire regime are therefore in turn ecosystem change, based on absolute and relative changes in carbon powerful drivers of biome shifts, potentially resulting in consid- and water fluxes and stores, cannot be ruled out on any continent erable changes in carbon fluxes over large areas (Heyder et al., (Heyder, Schaphoff, Gerten, & Lucht, 2011). If warming is limited 2011; Lavorel et al., 2006) to less than 2°C, with constant or slightly declining precipitation, It is anticipated that global warming will lead to global biome small biome shifts are projected, and then only in temperate and shifts (Barnosky et al. 2012). Based on 20th century observa- tropical regions. Considerable change is projected for cold and tions and 21st century projections, poleward latitudinal biome tropical climates already at 3°C of warming. At greater than 4°C shifts of up to 400 km are possible in a 4°C world (Gonzalez et of warming, biomes in temperate zones will also be substantially al., 2010). In the case of mountaintop ecosystems, for example, affected. These changes would impact not only the human and such a shift is not necessarily possible, putting them at particular animal communities that directly rely on the ecosystems, but would risk of extinction (La Sorte and Jetz, 2010). Species that dwell at also exact a cost (economic and otherwise) on society as a whole, the upper edge of continents or on islands would face a similar ranging from extensive loss of biodiversity and diminished land impediment to adaptation, since migration into adjacent eco- cover, through to loss of ecosystems services such as fisheries and systems is not possible (Campbell, et al. 2009; Hof, Levinsky, forestry (de Groot et al., 2012; Farley et al., 2012). Araújo, and Rahbek 2011). Ecosystems have been found to be particularly sensitive to The consequences of such geographical shifts, driven by geographical patterns of climate change (Gonzalez, Neilson, climatic changes as well as rising CO2 concentrations, would be Lenihan, and Drapek, 2010). Moreover, ecosystems are affected found in both reduced species richness and species turnover (for not only by local changes in the mean temperature and precipi- example, Phillips et al., 2008; White and Beissinger 2008). A study tation, along with changes in the variability of these quantities by (Midgley and Thuiller, 2011) found that, of 5,197 African plant and changes by the occurrence of extreme events. These climatic species studied, 25–42 percent could lose all suitable range by 2085. variables are thus decisive factors in determining plant structure It should be emphasized that competition for space with human and ecosystem composition (Reu et al., 2011). agriculture over the coming century is likely to prevent vegetation Increasing vulnerability to heat and drought stress will likely expansion in most cases (Zelazowski et al., 2011) lead to increased mortality and species extinction. For example, Species composition changes can lead to structural changes temperature extremes have already been held responsible for mor- of the entire ecosystem, such as the increase in lianas in tropical tality in Australian flying-fox species (Welbergen, Klose, Markus, and temperate forests (Phillips et al., 2008), and the encroach- and Eby 2008), and interactions between phenological changes ment of woody plants in temperate grasslands (Bloor et al., 2008, 50 Secto ral I m pacts Ratajczak et al., 2012), putting grass-eating herbivores at risk of et al., 2008)(Cox, et al., 2004) (Kriegler, Hall, Held, Dawson, and extinction because of a lack of food available—this is just one Schellnhuber, 2009). Substantial uncertainty remains around the example of the sensitive intricacies of ecosystem responses to likelihood, timing and onset of such risk due to a range of factors external perturbations. There is also an increased risk of extinc- including uncertainty in precipitation changes, effects of CO2 con- tion for herbivores in regions of drought-induced tree dieback, centration increase on water use efficiency and the CO2 fertilization owing to their inability to digest the newly resident C4 grasses effect, land-use feedbacks and interactions with fire frequency (Morgan et al., 2008). and intensity, and effects of higher temperature on tropical tree The following provides some examples of ecosystems that have species and on important ecosystem services such as pollinators. been identified as particularly vulnerable to climate change. The While climate model projections for the Amazon, and in par- discussion is restricted to ecosystems themselves, rather than the ticular precipitation, remain quite uncertain recent analyses using important and often extensive impacts on ecosystems services. IPCC AR4 generation climate indicates a reduced risk of a major Boreal-temperate ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to basin wide loss of precipitation compared to some earlier work. If climate change, although there are large differences in projections, drying occurs then the likelihood of an abrupt shift to a drier, less depending on the future climate model and emission pathway biodiverse ecosystem would increase. Current projections indicate studied. Nevertheless there is a clear risk of large-scale forest that fire occurrence in the Amazon could double by 2050, based dieback in the boreal-temperate system because of heat and on the A2 SRES scenario that involves warming of approximately drought (Heyder et al., 2011). Heat and drought related die-back 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (Silvestrini et al., 2011), and can has already been observed in substantial areas of North American therefore be expected to be even higher in a 4°C world. Interactions boreal forests (Allen et al., 2010), characteristic of vulnerability of climate change, land use and agricultural expansion increase to heat and drought stress leading to increased mortality at the the incidence of fire (Aragão et al., 2008), which plays a major trailing edge of boreal forests. The vulnerability of transition zones role in the (re)structuring of vegetation (Gonzalez et al., 2010; between boreal and temperate forests, as well as between boreal Scholze et al., 2006). A decrease in precipitation over the Amazon forests and polar/tundra biomes, is corroborated by studies of forests may therefore result in forest retreat or transition into a changes in plant functional richness with climate change (Reu low biomass forest (Malhi et al., 2009). Moderating this risk is a et al., 2011), as well as analyses using multiple dynamic global possible increase in ecosystem water use efficiency with increas- vegetation models (Gonzalez et al., 2010). Subtle changes within ing CO2 concentrations is accounted for, more than 90 percent of forest types also pose a great risk to biodiversity as different plant the original humid tropical forest niche in Amazonia is likely to types gain dominance (Scholze et al., 2006). be preserved in the 2°C case, compared to just under half in the Humid tropical forests also show increasing risk of major 4°C warming case (see Figure 5 in Zelazowski et al., 2011) (Cook, climate induced losses. At 4°C warming above pre-industrial Zeng, and Yoon, 2012; Salazar & Nobre, 2010). levels, the land extent of humid tropical forest, characterized by Recent work has analyzed a number of these factors and their tree species diversity and biomass density, is expected to contract uncertainties and finds that the risk of major loss of forest due to approximately 25 percent of its original size [see Figure 3 in to climate is more likely to be regional than Amazon basin-wide, (Zelazowski et al., 2011)], while at 2°C warming, more than 75 with the eastern and southeastern Amazon being most at risk percent of the original land can likely be preserved. For these (Zelazowski et al., 2011). Salazar and Nobre (2010) estimates a ecosystems, water availability is the dominant determinant of transition from tropical forests to seasonal forest or savanna in the climate suitability (Zelazowski et al., 2011). In general, Asia is eastern Amazon could occur at warming at warming of 2.5–3.5°C substantially less at risk of forest loss than the tropical Americas. when CO2 fertilization is not considered and 4.5–5.5°C when it is However, even at 2°C, the forest in the Indochina peninsula will considered. It is important to note, as Salazar and Nobre (2010) be at risk of die-back. At 4°C, the area of concern grows to include point out, that the effects of deforestation and increased fire risk central Sumatra, Sulawesi, India and the Philippines, where up interact with the climate change and are likely to accelerate a to 30 percent of the total humid tropical forest niche could be transition from tropical forests to drier ecosystems. threatened by forest retreat (Zelazowski et al., 2011). Increased CO2 concentration may also lead to increased plant There has been substantial scientific debate over the risk of water efficiency (Ainsworth and Long, 2005), lowering the risk a rapid and abrupt change to a much drier savanna or grassland of plant die-back, and resulting in vegetation expansion in many ecosystem under global warming. This risk has been identified regions, such as the Congo basin, West Africa and Madagascar as a possible planetary tipping point at around a warming of (Zelazowski et al., 2011), in addition to some dry-land ecosystems 3.5–4.5°C, which, if crossed, would result in a major loss of bio- (Heyder et al., 2011). The impact of CO2 induced ‘greening’ would, diversity, ecosystem services and the loss of a major terrestrial however, negatively affect biodiversity in many ecosystems. In carbon sink, increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations (Lenton particular encroachment of woody plants into grasslands and 51 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided savannahs in North American grassland and savanna communi- as well as an invaluable tourism asset. These valuable services ties could lead to a decline of up to 45 percent in species richness to often subsistence-dependent coastal and island societies will ((Ratajczak and Nippert, 2012) and loss of specialist savanna plant most likely be lost well before a 4°C world is reached. species in southern Africa (Parr, Gray, and Bond, 2012). The preceding discussion reviewed the implications of a 4°C Mangroves are an important ecosystem and are particularly world for just a few examples of important ecosystems. The sec- vulnerable to the multiple impacts of climate change, such as: tion below examines the effects of climate on biological diversity rise in sea levels, increases in atmospheric CO2 concentration, Ecosystems are composed ultimately of the species and interactions air and water temperature, and changes in precipitation pat- between them and their physical environment. Biologically rich terns. Sea-level rise can cause a loss of mangroves by cutting ecosystems are usually diverse and it is broadly agreed that there off the flow of fresh water and nutrients and drowning the roots exists a strong link between this biological diversity and ecosystem (Dasgupta, Laplante et al. 2010). By the end of the 21st century, productivity, stability and functioning (McGrady-Steed, Harris, global mangrove cover is projected to experience a significant and Morin, 1997; David Tilman, Wedin, and Knops, 1996)(Hector, decline because of heat stress and sea-level rise (Alongi, 2008; 1999; D Tilman et al., 2001). Loss of species within ecosystems Beaumont et al., 2011). In fact, it has been estimated that under will hence have profound negative effects on the functioning the A1B emissions scenario (3.5°C relative to pre-industrial and stability of ecosystems and on the ability of ecosystems to levels) mangroves would need to geographically move on provide goods and services to human societies. It is the overall average about 1 km/year to remain in suitable climate zones diversity of species that ultimately characterizes the biodiversity (Loarie et al., 2009). The most vulnerable mangrove forests are and evolutionary legacy of life on Earth. As was noted at the outset those occupying low-relief islands such as small islands in the of this discussion, species extinction rates are now at very high Pacific where sea-level rise is a dominant factor. Where rivers levels compared to the geological record. Loss of those species are lacking and/ or land is subsiding, vulnerability is also high. presently classified as ‘critically endangered’ would lead to mass With mangrove losses resulting from deforestation presently extinction on a scale that has happened only five times before at 1 to 2 percent per annum (Beaumont et al., 2011), climate in the last 540 million years. The loss of those species classified change may not be the biggest immediate threat to the future as ‘endangered’ and ‘vulnerable’ would confirm this loss as the of mangroves. However if conservation efforts are successful sixth mass extinction episode (Barnosky 2011). in the longer term climate change may become a determining Loss of biodiversity will challenge those reliant on ecosystems issue (Beaumont et al., 2011). services. Fisheries (Dale, Tharp, Lannom, and Hodges, 2010), and Coral reefs are acutely sensitive to changes in water tem- agronomy (Howden et al., 2007) and forestry industries (Stram & peratures, ocean pH and intensity and frequency of tropical Evans, 2009), among others, will need to match species choices to cyclones. Mass coral bleaching is caused by ocean warming and the changing climate conditions, while devising new strategies to ocean acidification, which results from absorption of CO2 (for tackle invasive pests (Bellard, Bertelsmeier, Leadley, Thuiller, and example, Frieler et al., 2012a). Increased sea-surface temperatures Courchamp, 2012). These challenges would have to be met in the and a reduction of available carbonates are also understood to face of increasing competition between natural and agricultural be driving causes of decreased rates of calcification, a critical ecosystems over water resources. reef-building process (De’ath, Lough, and Fabricius, 2009). The Over the 21st-century climate change is likely to result in some effects of climate change on coral reefs are already apparent. The bio-climates disappearing, notably in the mountainous tropics Great Barrier Reef, for example, has been estimated to have lost and in the poleward regions of continents, with new, or novel, 50 percent of live coral cover since 1985, which is attributed in climates developing in the tropics and subtropics (Williams, part to coral bleaching because of increasing water temperatures Jackson, and Kutzbach, 2007). In this study novel climates are (De’ath et al., 2012). Under atmospheric CO2 concentrations that those where 21st century projected climates do not overlap with correspond to a warming of 4°C by 2100, reef erosion will likely their 20th century analogues, and disappearing climates are those exceed rates of calcification, leaving coral reefs as “crumbling 20th century climates that do not overlap with 21st century pro- frameworks with few calcareous corals” (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., jected climates. The projections of Williams et al (2007) indicate 2007). In fact, frequency of bleaching events under global warm- that in a 4°C world (SRES A2), 12–39 percent of the Earth’s land ing in even a 2°C world has been projected to exceed the ability surface may experience a novel climate compared to 20th century of coral reefs to recover. The extinction of coral reefs would be analogues. Predictions of species response to novel climates are catastrophic for entire coral reef ecosystems and the people who difficult because researchers have no current analogue to rely depend on them for food, income and shoreline. Reefs provide upon. However, at least such climates would give rise to disrup- coastal protection against coastal floods and rising sea levels, nurs- tions, with many current species associations being broken up or ery grounds and habitat for a variety of currently fished species, disappearing entirely. 52 Secto ral I m pacts Under the same scenario an estimated 10–48 percent of the exceptional biodiversity (a subset of the so-called Global 200) Earth’s surface including highly biodiverse regions such as the to extreme monthly temperature and precipitation conditions in Himalayas, Mesoamerica, eastern and southern Africa, the Philip- the 21st century compared to 1961–1990 conditions shows that pines and the region around Indonesia known as Wallacaea would within 60 years almost all of the regions that are already exposed lose their climate space. With limitations on how fast species to substantial environmental and social pressure, will experience can disperse, or move, this indicates that many species may find extreme temperature conditions based on the A2 emission sce- themselves without a suitable climate space and thus face a high nario (4.1°C global mean temperature rise by 2100) (Beaumont risk of extinction. Globally, as in other studies, there is a strong et al., 2011). Tropical and sub-tropical eco-regions in Africa and association apparent in these projections between regions where South America are particularly vulnerable. Vulnerability to such the climate disappears and biodiversity hotspots. Limiting warming extremes is particularly acute for high latitude and small island to lower levels in this study showed substantially reduced effects, biota, which are very limited in their ability to respond to range with the magnitude of novel and disappearing climates scaling shifts, and to those biota, such as flooded grassland, mangroves linearly with global mean warming. and desert biomes, that would require large geographical displace- More recent work by Beaumont and colleagues using a dif- ments to find comparable climates in a warmer world. ferent approach confirms the scale of this risk (Beaumont et al., The overall sense of recent literature confirms the findings of 2011, Figure 36). Analysis of the exposure of 185 eco-regions of the AR4 summarized at the beginning of the section, with a number Figure 36: Distribution of monthly temperature projected for 2070 (2.9°C warming) across the terrestrial and freshwater components of WWF’s Global 200. (A) The distribution of 132 terrestrial and 53 freshwater ecosystems, grouped by biomes. (B) Average distance (measured in number of standard deviations from the mean) of 21st century monthly temperatures from that of the baseline period (1961–1990). Terrestrial Ecoregions Freshwater Ecoregions a Tropical/Subtrop Moist Broadleaf Forests (47) Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, Scrub (6) Large Lake (4) Small Lake (7) Tropical/Subtrop Dry Broadleaf Forests (8) Montane Grasslands/Shrublands (9) Large River (7) Small River Basin (21) Large River Delta (5) Xeric Basin (3) Tropical/Subtrop Coniferous Forests (3) Flooded Grasslands/Savannas (4) Large River Headwaters (5) Trop/Subtrop Grasslands, Savannas, Shrublands (8) Boreal Forests/Taiga (5) Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, Shrublands (3) Tundra (5) Temperate Broadleaf/Mixed Forests (9) Deserts/ Xeric Shrublands (9) Temperate Conifer Forests (8) Mangroves (8) 2070 A2 Annual Temperature Distance b Distance 1s 2s 3s 4s c Source: Beaumont et al., 2011. Coefficient of variation 53 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided of risks such as those to coral reefs occurring at significantly lower potential crop failure resulting from extreme weather events and temperatures than estimated in that report. Although non-climate changing climate patterns. Undernourishment in turn is known related human pressures are likely to remain a major and defining to increase vulnerability to illness and infection severity (World driver of loss of ecosystems and biodiversity in the coming decades, Health Organization, 2009; World Bank, 2010), thereby indirectly it is also clear that as warming rises so will the predominance of producing further health impacts. One instance of such a causal climate change as a determinant of ecosystem and biodiversity chain was reported in the World Development Report 2010: drought, survival. While the factors of human stresses on ecosystems are which is one extreme weather event that can trigger famine, has manifold, in a 4°C world, climate change is likely to become a been shown to be strongly correlated to past meningitis epidemics determining driver of ecosystem shifts and large-scale biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa (World Bank Group, 2010). loss (Bellard et al., 2012; New et al., 2011). Recent research sug- gests that large-scale loss of biodiversity is likely to occur in a 4°C Health Impacts of Extreme Events world, with climate change and high CO2 concentration driving a transition of the Earth´s ecosystems into a state unknown in human Extreme events have affected health not only in developing regions. experience. Such damages to ecosystems would be expected to The death toll of the 2003 heat wave in Europe is estimated at dramatically reduce the provision of ecosystem services on which 70,000. Impacts of warming could include deaths, injuries, and society depends (e.g., hydrology—quantity flow rates, quality; mental health trauma because of extreme weather events, and, fisheries (corals), protection of coastline (loss of mangroves). in high-vulnerability settings, increases in respiratory and diar- Barnosky has described the present situation facing the rheal infections. Heat amplified levels of some urban-industrial biodiversity of the planet as “the perfect storm” with multiple air pollutants could cause respiratory disorders and exacerbate high intensity ecological stresses because of habitat modification heart and blood vessel disease (‘cardiovascular disease’), while and degradation, pollution and other factors, unusually rapid in some regions increases in concentrations of aeroallergens climate change and unusually high and elevated atmospheric CO2 (pollens, spores) are likely to amplify rates of allergic respiratory concentrations. In the past, as noted above, this combination of disorders (McMichael and Lindgren, 2011). Heat extremes have circumstances has led to major, mass extinctions with planetary been shown to contribute to mortality rates of circulatory diseases consequences. Thus, there is a growing risk that climate change, (WHO, 2009). In addition, catastrophic events can cause damage combined with other human activities, will cause the irrevers- to facilities that provide health related services (UN Habitat, 2011), ible transition of the Earth´s ecosystems into a state unknown in potentially undermining the capacity to meet the challenges of human experience (Barnosky et al., 2012). excess illness and injury. Applying a set of coherent, high-resolution climate change projections and physical models within an economic modeling Human Health framework, (Ciscar et al., 2011) project climate impacts for different levels of global warming. Within this framework, the LISFLOOD Climatic changes have in the past affected entire societies on hydrological model provides estimates for the impacts of river floods various time scales, often leading to social upheavals and unrest (Tables 5. The authors project that, with no additional adaptation (McMichael, 2012). In what follows, a brief overview of possible measures other than those already in place, with 4.1°C (relative to adverse effects of warming on human health is presented. 1961–1990; 4.5°C relative to pre-industrial) warming in the 2080s, 251,000 people per year in Europe are likely to be affected by river Undernourishment and Malnourishment flooding; and with a 5.4 °C (5.8°C relative to pre-industrial) warm- ing in the 2080s 396,000 people per year are projected to be affected The “Great Famine” in Europe in the 14th century is an example of by river flooding. With a 2.5°C (2.9°C relative to pre-industrial) an event related to extreme climatic conditions. While the event can warming, in the 2080s, 276,000 people would be affected by river be attributed to the complex interplay of several factors, including flooding. The river flood damages are expected to mostly affect socio-economic conditions, the fact that the famine coincided with western Europe, the British Isles, and Central and South Central dire weather conditions worsened its impacts as the floods, mud European regions. The projections assume no growth in exposed and cold that accompanied the famine helped diseases spread and value and population. The same study quantifies the effects of undermined social coping capacity (McMichael, 2012). heat and cold related mortality. In the 2080s, without adaptation Famine is caused or exacerbated by a variety of factors, many measures and physiological acclimatization, the annual increase of which are environmental in nature. In the future, malnutrition mortality caused by heat in Europe is between 60,000 and 165,000. and under-nutrition, which are major contributors to child mortal- The decrease in cold-related mortality in Europe is projected to ity in developing countries, are likely to increase as an effect of be between 60,000 and 250,000. 54 Secto ral I m pacts Table 5: Number of People Affected by River Flooding in European Regions (1000s) People affected Southern South Central North British Northern (1,000s/y)‡ Europe Central Europe Europe Isles Europe EU 2.5°C (2.9°C) 46 117 103 12 –2 276 3.9°C (4.3°C) 49 101 110 48 9 318 4.1°C (4.5°C) 9 84 119 43 –4 251 5.4°C (5.8°C) –4 125 198 79 –3 396 Source: Ciscar et al. 2011. Note: Estimated by the river flooding, given no adaptive measures in addition to what is in place today and projections assume no growth in exposed value and population. Temperatures in parentheses indicate warming above pre-industrial levels. ‡ Differences compared with the 1961–1990 period. The number of people affected by weather extremes can example, McMichael and Lindgren, 2011; (World Bank Group, be expected to be higher in developing countries than in the 2009). This remains, however, an under-researched area and there industrialized world, as has been also seen with extreme events are very few studies that quantify these relationships. (Zivin and in the past (for example, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar in 2008). Neidell, 2010) point out that increased temperatures could also However, the authors are not aware of any studies that project affect lifestyle by reducing the time spent on outdoor recreational weather extremes related health risks in developing countries for activities, which in turn could potentially affect obesity, diabetes, different levels of global warming. and cardiovascular disease rates. In their study based on the Heat related mortality particularly affects the old, the young American Time Use Survey, temperatures over 100°F (37.7°C) and those with pre-existing cardiovascular or other illnesses. With lead to a statistically significant decrease in outdoor leisure of 22 population ageing and an increasing proportion of people living in minutes compared to 76–80°F (24.4–26.6°C). On the other hand, urban areas, combined with climate change, it is anticipated that temperatures in autumn, winter and spring more conducive to the effects of heat stress will increase considerably. Heat waves outdoor activity could produce the opposite effect in some areas. and heat extremes are projected to increase as a consequence of A further point arguably contributing to mental stress might be climate change, as reported earlier in this report. Effects on human that changes to climatic regimes and associated environments comfort and well-being are linked to a combination of increase will have ramifications for national identification and alter the in temperature and humidity. Recent projections of changes in dynamics of traditional cultures. the wet-bulb global temperature (WBGT) indicate a substantial increase in exposure to extreme heat conditions, taking into account The spread of Pathogens and Vector both temperature and humidity changes. (Willett and Sherwood, Borne Diseases 2012) project that heat events may become worse in the humid tropical and mid-latitude regions, even though these regions warm According to (McMichael and Lindgren, 2011), climate change less in absolute terms than the global average because of greater affects the rates of spread and multiplication of pathogens and absolute humidity increases. In this study, significant increases in changes the ranges and survival of non-human host species. WBGT are projected by the 2050s for all regions examined: India, Changes in temperature, precipitation and humidity influence China, and the Caribbean region in the developing world and for the vector-borne diseases (for example, malaria and dengue fever), United States, Australia and parts of Europe in the developed world. as well as hantaviruses, leishmaniasis, Lyme disease and schis- tosomiasis (World Health Organization, 2009). In the Northern Mental Health and Lifestyle-related Hemisphere, the risk of tick-borne diseases in particular is expected Health Disorders to increase with higher temperatures. The tick species studied can transmit Mediterranean-spotted fever, Lyme borreliosis, and Another dimension of the impact of climate change on human tick-borne encephalitis in Europe (Gray et al., 2009). (Reyburn et health is that of the complex and often indirect repercussions for al. 2011) find a correlation between temperature increase and an the quality of life of affected populations. It can be expected that increased cholera risk. Furthermore, flooding can introduce con- warmer temperatures and exposure to extreme weather events taminants and diseases into water supplies and can increase the will have negative effects on psychological and mental health, incidence of diarrheal and respiratory illnesses in both developed as well as increase the occurrence of conflict and violence (for and developing countries (UN Habitat, 2011); (World Bank Group, 55 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided 2009). Increased transmission of disease because of favorable condi- Further Factors of Vulnerability tions on the one hand, and undernourishment because of famine on the other, can be more likely to coincide under higher levels Vulnerability toward health impacts of temperature extremes var- of warming, potentially compounding the overall health impact. ies from different subgroups of population. Mid and low income Malaria is an example of a vector borne disease whose dis- countries face more challenges compared to OECD countries. tribution is likely to be influenced by climate change. Climate Children and women are generally expected to be affected more conditions including rainfall patterns, temperature and humidity severely (WHO, 2009; (EACC Synthesis World Bank Group, 2010)). affect the amount and the survival of mosquitoes, the vector of The World Health Organization (2009) identifies Small Island malaria. For instance, the peak of transmission often occurs during Developing States and low lying regions as particularly vulnerable and just after the rain seasons (World Health Organization, 2012). towards health impacts, because of salinization of fresh water and Sudden changes to climatic conditions can lead to the outbreak arable land as well as exposure to storm surges. The vulnerability of malaria in areas in which there is rarely malaria and people of indigenous people in the Arctic region is likely be increased have little or no immunity (World Health Organization, 2012). For due to a decrease in food sources as reduced sea ice causes the example, (Peterson, 2009) forecasts an increased malaria risk in animals on which they depend to decline, disrupting their hunt- East Africa and southern Africa where annual mean temperatures ing and food sharing culture (Arctic Climate Impact Assessment are increasing at such a rate as to permit new species of mosquitoes (ACIA), 2004; Crowley, 2010).Furthermore, urban populations are to establish populations. at greater risk of suffering from increasing temperatures because However, according to (Gollin et al., 2010), in a scenario in of a combination of higher inner-city temperatures, population which temperature increases by 3°C, the impact on malaria trans- densities and inadequate sanitation and freshwater services (WHO, mission can be minimized somewhat if the protection measures 2009). Furthermore, health risks associated with climate change (including vaccines, bed nets and screens in houses) that may be are closely linked to as yet unclear climate impacts in other fields, taken up by some individuals are taken into account. This study such as agriculture (Pandey, 2010). finds that with a protection efficacy ranging from 90 percent to Although future vulnerability toward climate change induced 70 percent (based on the assumption that these measures may health impacts is therefore likely to heavily depend on future socio- not be effective all of the time), the increase in people affected economic developments, quantitative assessments of various climate oscillates between 0.32 and 2.22 percent. change related health impacts allow for a first understanding of the In another study, (Béguin et al., 2011) estimate that the increased scope of future risks. However, quantitative assessments of health population at risk of contracting malaria in 2050 is over 200 mil- risks and different future temperature increase levels are rare to lion, under the IPCC´s A1B scenario (2.8°C relative to 1980–1999; find. Moreover, studies that carry out such an analysis often focus 3.5°C relative to pre-industrial levels). The total population at on a single health risk rather than a comprehensive assessment of risk in 2050 is projected to be about 5.2 billion if only climate various interrelated risks at different levels of global warming. It impacts are considered and decreases to 2 billion if the effects of can, however, plausibly be argued that the risks overviewed here climate change and socio-economic development are considered. will increase with rising temperatures, disproportionally affecting Furthermore, considering the effects of climate change only, some the poor and thus most vulnerable. areas in South America, Sub-Saharan Africa and China would be exposed to a 50 percent higher malaria transmission probability rate (Béguin et al., 2011). 56 Chapter 7 System Interaction and Non-linearity—The Need for Cross-sector Risk Assessments The preceding sections presented new analyses of regional sea-level rise projections and increases in extreme heat waves. They have given a snapshot of what some sectoral impacts of global mean warming of 4°C or more above preindustrial tem- peratures may mean. This review indicates very substantial issues in a number of critical sectors. It is important to also consider how the impacts, risks, and vul- Report and from additional research are indicating that the risks nerabilities scale with increasing levels of global mean warming of climate change are tending to become larger in magnitude or and CO2 concentration. Many of the impacts identified for a 4°C occur at lower increases in global temperature than found in earlier world can be avoided with high confidence by limiting warming assessments (for example, Smith et al. 2009). to lower levels. Other risks cannot be eliminated, but they can be If one considers the impacts in a 4°C world from a risk plan- very substantially reduced with lower levels of warming and CO2 ning perspective, some of the questions that immediately arise concentration. A comprehensive assessment of these issues has include the following: not been undertaken in this report. • How will the impacts unfold? How fast and how will the likely In its Fourth Assessment Synthesis Report, the IPCC found it impacts and adaptation needs differ from those expected for very likely that the net economic damages and costs of climate 2°C warming? change would increase over time as global temperatures increase. The IPCC pointed out that responding to climate change involves • Will the impacts and adaptation costs expected from a 4°C an iterative risk management process, including adaptation and warming be twice as high as from a 2°C warming? Are there mitigation that takes into account climate damages, cobenefits, likely to be nonlinear increases in impacts and costs, or con- sustainability equity, and attitudes to risk. Another finding of the versely a saturation of damages after 2°C or 3°C warming? AR4 Synthesis Report (IPCC 2007), relating to the question of • Will the consequences of climate change be qualitatively similar avoiding 4°C warming, is also relevant here: “mitigation efforts independent of the temperature increase? Will investments and investment over the next two to three decades will have a made to adapt to 2°C warming be scalable to 4°C warming large impact on opportunities to achieve lower stabilization levels. or is there a chance that these investments may be wasted, or Delayed emission reductions significantly constrain the opportuni- at least become useless? Is such a targeted adaptation feasible ties to achieve lower levels and increase the risk of more severe at all, given the uncertainties associated with the impacts of climate change impacts.” Earlier sections of this report pointed to high levels of global warming? recent literature that reinforces and extends these findings, and in • Will increasing wealth in the future be sufficient to reduce particular, shows that it is still possible to hold warming below 2°C. vulnerability to acceptable levels, or will climate change reduce One of the striking conclusions one can draw from the pro- economic development prospects and exacerbate vulnerabilities? jected impacts and risks is that the high level of risk and damages for temperature increases when approaching 4°C, and for some For many of these questions there is no readily available quan- systems even well below 2°C. Findings from the AR4 Synthesis titative modeling assessment that can provide reliable answers. 59 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided The climate modeling community can provide projections of global of such wide ranging and concomitant impacts, many of which mean warming and even regional climatic changes up to at least are likely before or close to 4°C warming. a 4–5°C warming, albeit with increasing uncertainty. For most An aspect of the risks arising from climate change that requires regions, the patterns of climate change projected for 2°C warming further research to better understand the consequences for society are expected to be roughly similar, but substantially greater for is how nonlinear behavior in the Earth and human systems will warming of 4°C. However, lurking in the tails of the probability alter and intensify impacts across different levels of warming. This distributions are likely to be many unpleasant surprises. The new is discussed in the following sections. projections for unprecedented heat waves and temperature extremes for 4°C warming are one illustration of this. Many systems and changes in the extremes have much more impact than changes in Risks of Nonlinear and Cascading the mean. Researchers expect that many extremes, including heat Impacts waves, droughts, extreme rainfall, flooding events, and tropical cyclone intensity, are likely to respond nonlinearly to an increase In the outline of impacts presented in this report, an implicit in global mean warming itself. They are already observing some of assumption in nearly all of the modeling and assessment exercises these effects, which are forcing a recalibration of important impact is that the climate system and affected sectors will respond in a parameters, such as the responses of crops and the agricultural relatively linear manner to increases in global mean temperature. system to climate change. Warming to these levels of risks com- Large-scale and disruptive changes in the climate system, or its mits the climate system to very long-term warming (Solomon, operation, are generally not included in modeling exercises, and Plattner, Knutti, and Friedlingstein 2009; Hare and Meinshausen not often in impact assessments. However, given the increasing 2006) and to impacts, such as very long-term, multimeter sea-level likelihood of threshold crossing and tipping points being reached or rise, because of the response of the ice sheets over thousands of breached, such risks need to be examined in a full risk assessment years (Huybrechts et al. 2011) exercise looking at the consequences of 4°C warming, especially The scale and rapidity of climate change will not be occur- considering that even further warming and sea-level rise would ring in a vacuum. It will occur in the context of economic growth be expected to follow in the centuries ahead. What follows is a and population increases that will place increasing stresses and sketch of potential mechanisms that point to a nonlinearly evolving demands on a planetary ecosystem already approaching, or cascade of risks associated with rising global mean temperature. even exceeding, important limits and boundaries (Barnosky et The list does not claim to be exhaustive; for a more extensive al. 2012; Rockström et al. 2009). The resilience of many natural discussion, see, for example, Warren (2011). and managed ecosystems is likely to be adversely affected by both development and growth, as well as the consequences of Nonlinear Responses of the Earth climate change. System Although systems interact, sometimes strongly, present tools for projecting impacts of climate change are not yet equipped to With global warming exceeding 2°C, the risk of crossing activa- take into account strong interactions associated with the intercon- tion thresholds for nonlinear tipping elements in the Earth System nected systems impacted by climate change and other planetary and irreversible climate change impacts increases (Lenton et al. stresses, such as habitat fragmentation, pollution, and invasive 2008), as does the likelihood of transitions to unprecedented cli- species (Warren 2011). Scientific findings are starting to indicate mate regimes. A few examples demonstrate the need for further that some of these interactions could be quite profound, rather examination of plausible world futures. than second-order effects. Impacts projected for ecosystems, agri- culture, and water supply in the 21st century could lead to large- Amazon Rain Forest Die-back scale displacement of populations, with manifold consequences There is a significant risk that the rain forest covering large areas for human security, health, and economic and trade systems. of the Amazon basin will be lost as a result of an abrupt transition Little is understood regarding the full human and economic in climate toward much drier conditions and a related change in consequences of a collapse of coral reef ecosystems, combined the vegetation system. Once the collapse occurs, conditions would with the likely concomitant loss of marine production because of likely prevent rain forest from re-establishing. The tipping point rising ocean temperatures and increasing acidification, and the for this simulation is estimated to be near 3–5°C global warming large-scale impacts on human settlements and infrastructure in (Lenton et al. 2008; Malhi et al. 2009; Salazar and Nobre 2010). low-lying fringe coastal zones of a 1 m sea-level rise within this A collapse would have devastating consequences for biodiversity, century. While each of these sectors have been examined, as yet the livelihoods of indigenous people, Amazon basin hydrology researchers do not fully understand the consequences for society and water security, nutrient cycling, and other ecosystem services. 60 S y ste m Inte r action and N on -linear it y—Th e N eed fo r C r oss-sector Risk A ssessm ents Continuing deforestation in the region enhances the risks of reduc- Greenland Ice Sheet tions in rainfall and warming (Malhi et al. 2009) and exacerbates New estimates for crossing a threshold for irreversible decay of climate change induced risks. the Greenland ice sheet (which holds ice equivalent to 6 to 7 m of sea level) indicate this could occur when the global average Ocean Ecosystems temperature increase exceed roughly 1.5°C above preindustrial Disruption of the ocean ecosystems because of warming and (range of 0.8 to 3.2°C) (Robinson et al. 2012). This value is lower ocean acidification present many emerging high-level risks than the earlier AR4 range of 1.9 to 4.6°C above preindustrial. (Hofmann and Schellnhuber 2009). The rising atmospheric Irreversible decay of this ice sheet would likely occur over many carbon dioxide concentration is leading to rapid acidification of centuries, setting the world on a course to experience a high rate the global ocean. Higher acidity (namely, lower pH) of ocean of sea-level rise far into the future. waters leads to reduced availability of calcium carbonate (ara- Significant uncertainty remains about the timing and onset gonite), the resource vital for coral species and ecosystems to of such tipping points. However, such singularities could lead to build skeletons and shells. drastic and fundamental change and, therefore, deserve careful The combination of warming and ocean acidification is likely to attention with regard to identifying potential adaptation options lead to the demise of most coral reef ecosystems (Hoegh-Guldberg for the long term. While the risk of more rapid ice sheet response 2010). Warm-water coral reefs, cold-water corals, and ecosystems appears to be growing, there remains an open question as to in the Southern Ocean are especially vulnerable. Recent research whether risk planning should be oriented assuming 1 meter indicates that limiting warming to as little as 1.5°C may not be rise by 2100 or a substantially larger number, such as, 2 meters. sufficient to protect reef systems globally (Frieler et al. 2012). The onset of massive transitions of coral reefs to much simpler This is a lower estimate than included in earlier assessments (for ecosystems could happen quite soon and well before even 2°C example, the IPCC AR4 projected widespread coral reef mortality at warming is reached. Along with the uncertainty regarding onset 3–4°C above preindustrial). Loss of coral reef systems would have and associated human impact of these and other nonlinearities, far-reaching consequences for the human societies that depend the extent of human coping capacity with these impacts also on them. Moreover, their depletion would represent a major loss remains uncertain. to Earth’s biological heritage. A particularly severe consequence of ocean warming could  onlinearity within Sectors and Social N be the expansion of ocean hypoxic zones, ultimately interfering Systems with global ocean production and damaging marine ecosystems. Reductions in the oxygenation zones of the ocean are already being Within individual sectors and systems there can be nonlinear observed, and, in some ocean basins, these losses are reducing responses to warming when critical system thresholds are crossed. the habitat for tropical pelagic fishes, such as tuna (Stramma et One such nonlinearity arises because of a threshold behavior al. 2011). Loss of oceanic food production could have very nega- in crop growth. In different regions of the world, including the tive consequences for international food security as well as lead United States, Africa, India, and Europe, nonlinear temperature to substantial economic costs. effects have been found on important crops, including maize, wheat, soya, and cassava (see Chapter 2). For example, in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet United States, significant nonlinear effects have been observed It has long been hypothesized that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, when local temperature rises to greater than 29°C for corn, 30°C which contains approximately 3 m of sea-level rise equivalent for soybeans, and 32°C for cotton. Under the SRES A1F scenario, in ice, is especially vulnerable to global warming (Mercer 1968; which exceeds 4°C warming by 2100, yields are projected to 1978). The observed acceleration in loss of ice from the West decrease by 63 to 82 percent (Schlenker and Roberts 2009). The Antarctic Ice Sheet is much greater than projected by modeling potential for damages to crops because of pests and diseases studies and appears to be related to deep ocean warming caus- plus nonlinear temperature effects is likely to grow as the world ing the retreat of vulnerable ice streams that drain the interior warms toward 2°C and above. Most current crop models do of this region (Rignot and Thomas 2002; Pritchard, Arthern, not account for such effects—one reason that led Rötter et al. Vaughan, and Edwards 2009; Scott, Schell, St-Onge, Rochon, (2011) to call for an “overhaul” of current crop-climate models. and Blaso 2009; Velicogna 2009). While scientific debate on In light of the analysis of temperature extremes presented in this the subject remains vigorous and unresolved, the risk cannot report, adverse impacts on agricultural yields may prove to be be ignored because an unstable retreat could lead over the next greater than previously projected. For example, in the Mediter- few centuries to significantly higher rates of sea level rise than ranean and central United States the warmest July in the latter currently projected. decades of the 21st century are projected to lead to temperatures 61 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Box 3: Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is a region of the world exposed to multiple stresses and has been identified as particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It is an example of an environment where impacts across sectors may interact in complex ways with one another, producing potentially cascading effects that are largely unpredictable. For example, in a 4°C world, Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to experience temperatures that are well above currently experienced extreme heat waves. In coastal areas, an additional problem will be sea-level rise, which is projected to displace populations, and particularly in combination with severe storms, could cause freshwater resources to become contaminated with saltwater (Nicholls and Cazenave 2010). Projected heat extremes and changes in the hydrological cycle would in turn affect ecosystems and agriculture. Tropical and subtropical ecoregions in Sub-Saharan Africa are particularly vulnerable to ecosystem damage (Beaumont et al. 2011). For example, with 4°C warming, of 5,197 African plant species studied, 25 percent–42 percent are projected to lose all suitable range by 2085 (Midgley and Thuiller 2011). Ecosystem damage would have the flow-on effect of reducing the ecosystem services available to human popu- lations. At present, food security is one of the most daunting challenges facing Sub-Saharan Africa. The economies of the region are highly dependent on agriculture, with agriculture typically making up 20–40 percent of gross domestic product (Godfray et al. 2010a). Climate change will likely cause reductions in available arable land (Brown, Hammill, and McLeman 2007). Because agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly sensitive to weather and climate variables (for example, 75 percent of Sub-Saharan African agriculture is rainfed), it is highly vulnerable to fluctuations in precipitation (Brown, Hammel, and McLeman 2007) and has a low potential for adaptation (Kotir 2011). With 4°C or more of warming, 35 percent of cropland is projected to become unsuitable for cultivation (Arnell 2009). In a 5°C world, much of the crop and rangeland of Sub-Saharan Africa can be expected to experience major reductions in the growing season length (Thornton et al. 2011b). For example, in the event of such warming, crop yields for maize production are projected to be reduced 13–23 percent across different African regions (not taking into account the uncertain effect of CO2 fertilization) (Thornton et al. 2011). Crop losses for beans are expected to be substantially higher. Human health in Sub-Saharan Africa will be affected by high temperatures and reduced availability of water, especially as a result of al- terations in patterns of disease transmission. Some areas in Sub-Saharan Africa may face a 50 percent increase in the probability for malaria transmission (Béguin 2011) as a result of new species of mosquitoes becoming established (Peterson 2009). The impacts on agriculture and ecosystems outlined above would further compound the direct impacts on human health by increasing the rates of undernutrition and reduced incomes, ultimately producing negative repercussions for economic growth. These conditions are expected to increase the scale of population displacement and the likelihood of conflict as resources become more scarce. Africa is also considered particularly vulnerable to increasing threats affecting human security. Long-term shifts in the climate seem likely to catalyze conflict by creating or exacerbating food, water and energy scarcities, triggering population movements, and placing larger groups of people in competition for more and more limited resources. Increased climate variability, including the greater frequency of extreme weather events, will also complicate access to resources, thereby exacerbating conditions that are conducive to promoting conflict (Brown, Hammer and McLeman 2007; Hendrix and Glaser 2007). Like many other effects of climate change discussed in this report, instances of conflict could unfold “in a way that could roll back develop- ment across many countries“(Brown, Hammer and McLeman 2007). It is important to emphasize here that each of these impacts would undermine the ability of populations in Sub-Saharan Africa that are often already facing poverty and precarious conditions to adapt to the challenges associated with impacts in other sectors. In this context, the potential for climate change to act as a “threat multiplier,” potentially making such existing challenges as water scarcity and food insecurity more complex and irresolvable, is cause for particular concern. rising close to 35°C, or up to 9°C above the warmest July for the ecological, economic, and population stresses. Barnett and Adger past two decades. However, more research is required to better (2003) point to the risks of sea-level rise in atoll countries pushing understand the repercussions for agriculture in a 4°C world given controlled, adaptive migration to collapse, resulting in complete the uncertainty in both temperature and impact projections, as abandonment. Similarly, stresses on human health—such as well as the potential for adaptive responses and the possibility of heat waves, malnutrition, decreasing quality of drinking water breeding high temperature crop varieties. resulting from salt water intrusion, and more—could overbur- Similarly, social systems can be pushed beyond thresholds den health-care systems to the point where adaptation to given that existing institutions could support, leading to system col- stresses is no longer possible. Immediate physical exposure of lapse (Kates et al. 2012). The risk of crossing such thresholds facilities such as hospitals to extreme weather events, storm is likely to grow with pressures increasing as warming pro- surge, and sea-level rise may also contribute to this pressure gresses toward 4°C and combines with nonclimate related social, on health care systems. 62 S y ste m Inte r action and N on -linear it y—Th e N eed fo r C r oss-sector Risk A ssessm ents Where a system responds linearly and proportionately to to particular impacts, such as health risks. Furthermore, such warming, there is a better basis for systematic planning. A non- mitigation measures as land-use change to provide for biomass linear response in a sector or human system is likely instead to production and incremental adaptation designed for a 2°C world raise far greater challenges and should be taken into account for could increase—perhaps exponentially—vulnerability to a 4°C adaptation planning. world by increasing land and resource value without guarding against abrupt climate change impacts (Kates et al. 2012). Warren Nonlinearities because of Interactions (2011) further stresses that future adaptation measures to projected of Impacts high impacts, such as changes in irrigation practices to counteract crop failures, might exacerbate impacts in other sectors, such as Potential interactions of sectoral impacts can introduce a further water availability. dimension of nonlinearity into analyses of the potential for sig- nificant consequences from global warming.  onlinearities because of Cascading N If changes were to be small, it is plausible that there would Impacts be few interactions between sectors. For example, a small change in agricultural production might be able to be compensated for With the possibility of installed adaptation capacities failing in a elsewhere in another region or system. However, as the scale and 4°C world, infrastructure that plays a key role in the distribution number of impacts grow with increasing global mean temperature, of goods is more exposed to climate change impacts. This could interactions between them seem increasingly likely, compounding lead to impacts and damages cascading into areas well beyond the overall impact. A large shock to agricultural production result- the initial point of impact. Thus, there is a risk that vulnerability ing from extreme temperatures and drought across many regions is more widely dispersed and extensive than anticipated from would, for example, likely lead to substantial changes in other sectoral impact assessment. sectors and in turn be impacted by them. For example, substantial Projections of damage costs for climate change impacts typically pressure on water resources and changes of the hydrological cycle assess the costs of directly damaged settlements, without taking could ultimately affect water availability for agriculture. Shortages surrounding infrastructure into account. However, in a more and in water and food could in turn impact human health and liveli- more globalized world that experiences further specialization in hoods. Diversion of water from ecosystem maintenance functions to production systems and higher dependency on infrastructure to meet increased human needs could have highly adverse effects on deliver produced goods, damages to infrastructure can lead to sub- biodiversity and vital ecosystem services derived from the natural stantial indirect impacts. For example, breakdowns or substantial environment. This could cascade into effects on economic develop- disruption of seaport infrastructure could trigger impacts inland ment by reducing a population´s work capacity that could, in turn, and further down the distribution chain. diminish GDP growth. A better understanding of the potential for such cascading Nonclimatic factors can interact with impacts to increase vulner- effects, their extent, and potential responses is needed. To date, ability. For example, increasing demands on resources needed to impacts on infrastructure and their reach has not been sufficiently address the population increase could lead to reduced resilience, if investigated to allow for a quantitative understanding of the full resources are not distributed adequately and equitably. As another scope and time frame of total impacts. Such potential examples example, an aging population will experience higher vulnerability present a major challenge for future research. 63 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Concluding Remarks and are projected to be adversely affected by impacts resulting from climate change, adaptive capacities in developing regions A 4°C world will pose unprecedented challenges to humanity. It are weaker. The burden of climate change in the future will very is clear that large regional as well as global scale damages and likely be borne differentially by those in regions already highly risks are very likely to occur well before this level of warming is vulnerable to climate change and variability. Given that it remains reached. This report has attempted to identify the scope of these uncertain whether adaptation and further progress toward devel- challenges driven by responses of the Earth system and various opment goals will be possible at this level of climate change, the human and natural systems. Although no quantification of the full projected 4°C warming simply must not be allowed to occur—the scale of human damage is yet possible, the picture that emerges heat must be turned down. Only early, cooperative, international challenges an often-implicit assumption that climate change will actions can make that happen. not significantly undermine economic growth.15 It seems clear that climate change in a 4°C world could seriously undermine poverty alleviation in many regions. This is supported by past observations of the negative effects of climate change on economic growth 15 The Stern Report being a notable exception, Stern, N. 2007. The Economics of Climate in developing countries. While developed countries have been Change: The Stern Review. Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press. 64 Appendix 1 Methods for Modeling Sea-level Rise in a 4°C World The authors developed sea-level scenarios using a combination of approaches, acknowledging the fact that both physically- based numerical ice sheet modeling and semi-empirical methods have shortcomings, but also recognizing the need to provide ice sheet loss estimates to be able to estimate regional sea-level rise. They did not attempt to characterize the full range of uncertainties, either at the low or high end. Future contributions from groundwater mining are also not included in the projec- tions, and could account for another 10 cm (Wada et al. 2012). The scenario construction is as follows. For the upper end of the sea-level scenario construction, the at present. Setting the AIS contribution to zero is, thus, a way of authors apply a semi-empirical sea-level rise model (Rahmstorf, leaving open the possibility that short-term processes may have Perrette, and Vermeer 2011; Schaeffer et al. 2012), giving a global been at work over the last 20 years. This very low ice sheet contri- estimate for specific emission scenarios leading to a 2°C or 4°C bution scenario approaches the levels of some process-based model increase in global mean temperature by 2100. As the semi-empirical projections, where the projected net uptake of ice by Antarctica sea-level rise models do not separately calculate the individual is balanced by ice melting from Greenland over the 21st century. terms giving rise to sea-level increases, further steps are needed In the lower ice-sheet scenario (47 cm sea-level rise in the to characterize plausible ice sheet contributions. The authors global mean), eastern Asian and northeastern American coasts calculate the contribution from thermal sea-level rise and from both experience above-average sea-level rise, about 20 percent and mountain glaciers and icecaps and deduct this from the total 15 percent, respectively above the global mean (for example, –3 global sea-level rise and assign this difference to the ice sheets, percent to +23 percent around New York City, 68 percent range). half to Greenland and the other half to Antarctica. The resulting In the higher ice-sheet scenario (96 cm sea-level rise in the global contributions from the ice sheets are significantly above those mean), where ocean dynamic effects are relatively less significant, estimated by most process based ice sheet models and approxi- the eastern Asian coast clearly stands out as featuring the highest mates the ice sheet contribution that would arise, if the rates of projected coastal sea-level rise of 20 percent above the global mean. acceleration of loss observed since 1992 continued unchanged In that scenario, sea-level rise is projected to be slightly below the throughout the 21st century. global mean in northeast America, and 20 percent (5–33 percent, For the lower end of the scenario construction, the authors use 68 percent range) below the global mean along the Dutch coast as a starting point the calculated thermal sea level-rise and the (Figure A1.1, Figure 32). It is important to note the likely weaken- contribution from mountain glaciers and ice caps. To this, they add ing in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) a surface mass balance contribution from the Greenland ice sheet with increasing warming could be exacerbated by rapid ice sheet (GIS; excluding ice dynamics) and assume that the Antarctic ice melt from Greenland. That effect, which is not included in the sheet (AIS) is in balance over the 21st century. Most AIS models authors’ projections, could potentially add another 10 cm to the project that this ice sheet would lower sea-level rise in the 21st local sea-level rise around New York City, as currently discussed century as it does not warm sufficiently to lose more ice than it in the scientific literature (Sallenger et al. 2012; Slangen et al. 2011; gains because of enhanced precipitation over this period. On the Stammer, Agarwal, Herrmann, Köhl and Mechoso 2011; Yin et al. other hand, observations indicate that the ice sheet is losing ice 2009). Post-glacial adjustment would also add another 20 cm, at a slowly increasing rate close to that of the Greenland ice sheet albeit with large uncertainties (Slangen et al. 2011). 67 Turn Do wn t he H e at: W h y a 4 ° C War m e r Wor ld Mu st B e Avoided Figure A1.1: Regional sea-level projection for the lower ice-sheet scenario (left) and the higher ice sheet scenario (right). The numbers in brackets denote the corresponding global mean value for sea-level rise, of 47 cm and 96 cm, respectively. Low ice−sheet scenario [47 cm] High ice−sheet scenario [96 cm] 70 140 65 130 60 60 120 55 110 50 100 30 45 90 Latitude 40 80 0 35 70 cm cm 30 60 −30 25 50 20 40 15 30 −60 10 20 5 10 0 0 60 120 180 240 300 60 120 180 240 300 Longitude Longitude The difference in regional sea-level rise patterns between 4°C in particular, potential (but uncertain) crossing of tipping points and 2°C warming above preindustrial temperatures is indicated in with respect to ice-sheet collapse could increase the impact of a Figure A1.2 for both ice-sheet scenarios by the end of the century. 4°C world compared to a 2°C world. In both ice-sheet scenarios, the spatially variable component of the The regional projections presented here incorporate the uncer- difference is closely related to ocean dynamics (see Figure A1.3). tainties from the methods that were applied to estimate global The benefit of choosing a 2°C pathway, rather than a 4°C pathway mean sea-level rise. In order to reduce these uncertainties, further can be to limit more than 20 cm of local sea-level rise (Figure A1.2). research on the dynamic changes in the ice sheets is needed, using Note that the authors do not exclude higher benefits of mitigation: reconstruction of past responses to climate and observations of Figure A1.2: Difference in sea-level rise between a 4°C world and a 2°C world for the lower (left) and higher (right) ice-sheet scenario. The numbers in brackets indicate the difference in global mean sea-level rise. Grey shaded areas indicate regions where sea-level is higher in a 2°C world: they correspond to regions where sea level is actually projected to drop in the coming century because of land uplift and gravitational effects. Low ice−sheet scenario [13 cm] High ice−sheet scenario [17 cm] 40 35 60 30 30 25 Latitude 0 20 cm 15 −30 10 −60 5 0 60 120 180 240 300 60 120 180 240 300 Longitude Longitude 68 Appendi x 1 Figure A1.3: Individual contributions to sea-level rise by 2100 in a 4°C world: land-ice (mountain glaciers and ice caps + ice sheets) contribution fromå the lower (top-left) and higher (top-right) ice-sheet scenario; global mean thermal expansion plus dynamic sea-level changes (together termed steric expansion) (bottom-left). Global averages are indicated in brackets in figure. Grey shading indicates sea-level drop (negative values). Note that the authors do not exclude higher benefits of mitigation: in particular, potential (but uncertain) crossing of tipping points with respect to ice-sheet collapse which could increase the impact of a 4°C world compared to a 2°C world. Land ice [19 cm] Land ice [69 cm] 30 90 80 60 25 60 70 30 20 30 60 Latitude Latitude 50 0 15 0 cm cm 40 −30 10 −30 30 20 −60 5 −60 10 0 0 60 120 180 240 300 60 120 180 240 300 Longitude Longitude Steric expansion [27 cm] 60 55 60 50 45 30 40 Latitude 35 0 30 cm 25 −30 20 15 −60 10 5 0 60 120 180 240 300 Longitude ongoing changes, as well as numerical modeling. Another need, This report considered regional sea-level rise by 2100, but shorter which is more specific to regional sea-level projections, is to com- time scales are also of high societal relevance. Decadal rates of bine projections such as those presented in this report with local, sea-level change can, indeed, vary significantly at the regional specific information about uplift or subsidence rates because of level because of the superimposed effect of natural variability. On nonclimatic processes, such as sediments accretion, mining, or long- subannual time scales, storm surges and waves can inundate and term glacial isostatic adjustment ongoing since the last deglaciation. erode coastlines even for a small rise of the annual mean sea level. 69 Appendix 2 Methods for Analyzing Extreme Heat Waves in a 4°C World For the analysis of extreme heat waves in a 4°C world, those CMIP5 simulation runs were selected that project a four-degree warmer world by the end of the 21st century. Figure A2.1 shows the increase of global mean temperature over the 21st century, relative to pre-industrial conditions (averaged over the period 1880–1900), for 24 models based on the RCP8.5 scenario. Only with the high-emission scenario RCP8.5 (Moss et al. 2010) do the models produce climates that are around 4°C warmer than pre-industrial before the end of the 21st century. From these RCP8.5 model runs, those simulations that show 4.0 ±0.5°C of global mean warming averaged over the period 2080–2100 (colored curves in Figure A2.1) relative to present-day conditions (1980–2000) were selected. This, thus, implies 4°C–5°C warmer compared to pre-industrial conditions (Figure A2.1), (Betts et al. 2011).). The eight simulations selected this way exhibit a rate of warming in the middle of the range of those produced by the RCP8.5 scenario runs, compared with several models that reach a four-degree world sooner and others only into the 22nd century (grey curves). For each of the selected 4°C world simulations, the local monthly Figure A2.1: Simulated historic and 21st century global mean standard deviation because of due to natural variability over the temperature anomalies, relative to the pre-industrial period (1880–1900), entire 20th century (1901–2000) for each individual month was for 24 CMIP5 models based on the RCP8.5 scenario. The colored determined. To do so, first a singular spectrum analysis to extract (and labeled) curves show those simulations reaching a global mean the long-term, non-linear warming trend (namely, the climatological warming of 4°C–5°C warmer than pre-industrial for 2080–2100, which warming signal) was used. Next the 20th century monthly time are used for further analysis. series was detrended by subtracting the long-term trend, which provides the monthly year-to-year variability. From this detrended signal, monthly standard deviations were calculated, which were then averaged seasonally (that is, seasonally averaged monthly- standard deviations). In the present analysis, the standard deviation calculated for the entire 20th century (1901–2000) was employed;, however, it was found that this estimate was robust with respect to shorter time periods. 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