Disasters Fueled By Climate Change Are Already Worse Than Previous Prediction, Study Says

As the climate crisis worsens, there is no doubt that the intensity and frequency of extreme weather-often resulting in disasters-will increase.

Global climate change is not a future issue. Changes in the Earth's climate caused by increased human emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases are already having a wide-ranging impact on the environment: glaciers and ice sheets are shrinking, river and lake ice is breaking up earlier, plant and animal geographic ranges are shifting, and plants and trees bloom earlier.

Frequent Natural Disasters

(Photo : Getty Images/Rebecca Conway)

In the recent assessment on climate adaptation by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it reveals that disasters fueled by climate change are already worse than scientists expected.

And now, scientists have offered evidence that more warming is inevitable. That means disaster risk will increase, even if the world succeeds in curbing the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

Sea ice loss, rapid sea level rise, and longer, more intense heat waves are all effects of global climate change that experts expected would occur for a long time.

According to the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report, published in 2021, human emissions of heat-trapping gases have already warmed the climate by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since 1850-1900.

The global average temperature is expected to reach or exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius (about 3 degrees Fahrenheit) within the next few decades.

These changes will have an impact on the entire planet. The severity of climate change's consequences will be determined by the course of future human activity. Greater greenhouse gas emissions will result in greater climate extremes and broad negative consequences for our world.

However, the future effects are dependent on the total amount of carbon dioxide we emit. So, if we can minimize emissions, we may prevent some of the worst consequences.

Managing Disaster

Our world and its inhabitants are resilient, but some of the impacts of climate change are occurring too quickly and with too much force to allow for adequate adaptation. The longer we wait to take action, the fewer options we have.

This is critical because, according to the IPCC, over 3.6 billion people live in environments that are extremely sensitive to climate change. The climate problem is a daily reality for many people.

Since 2008, weather-related extreme disasters have internally displaced around 20 million people per year. While communities, governments, and businesses around the world are working on solutions to adapt to our warming climate, progress remains uneven and insufficient.

As climate change worsens, we must modify our risk management strategies and responses to extreme events.

Natural risks are inextricably linked, and if treated individually, they can feed off of each other, causing more severe damage. This is because the climate issue serves as a threat multiplier.

Environmentally responsible catastrophe management cannot come soon enough. As the climate problem escalates with extreme weather events around the world, the following years will be essential for catastrophe risk reduction efforts. Communities must adjust and lower disaster risk immediately. Lives depend on it, and nature may assist.