A new study has shown how climate change may be far worse than scientist anticipated, causing a global change in temperature of at least 4 degrees Celsius or about 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100.
According to a report by The Guardian, a study published in the journal Nature, a fresh look was taken of the clouds’ effect on the planet. The study found that as the planet warms, fewer sunlight reflection clouds form, causing further warming.
7.2 degrees Fahrenheit is double what governments believe is the verge of dangerous warming. As the planet warms, it will cause many environmental shifts, not just melting sea ice but it will also cause starvation, poverty, war and disease.
“4 degrees Celsius would likely be catastrophic rather than simply dangerous,” lead researcher Steven Sherwood told the Guardian. “For example, it would make life difficult, if not impossible, in much of the tropics, and would guarantee the eventual melting of the Greenland ice sheet and some of the Antarctic ice sheet.”
Earlier this month, a report was released about changes caused by rapid warming should be cause for concern because many of the climate biggest changes people wont be prepared for.
The Intergovernmental Panel in September said it was “extremely likely” that human activity was the dominant cause of global warming, or about 95 percent certain.
“If this isn’t an alarm bell, then i don’t know what one is. If ever there were an issue that demanded greater cooperation, partnership, and committed diplomacy, this is it,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said after the IPCC report was released.
Image Credit: The Guardian