UN report reveals that climate change effects are much worse than we thought

A new report issued by the United Nations has revealed the consequences of climate change will be much worse than we previously imagined.

While it had previously been said the effects of climate change were beginning to slow down, it has now been shown to be speeding up.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has warned there are only a dozen years left to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5C; if it rises to 2C, the effects on the earth will be disastrous, with the risks of drought, extreme heat and floods rising significantly for millions of people.

The report predicts extreme weather events will become more common. Worsening food shortages, wildfires and a mass die-off of the earth’s coral reefs will become a reality if we don’t make extreme changes in our actions against climate change.

Limiting global warming to a rise of 1.5C would require “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society,” according to the report, which calls for carbon pollution to be cut in half by 2030.

Here in Ireland, the effects of climate change have already begun to become apparent, with 2018 seeing both extreme snow with Beast from the East in March, and the highest daily air temperature in 70 years this summer.