Languages:
 

Links on Climate Change

4. What are the likely consequences of climate change?

4.1 Has climate change already affected us?

4.1.1. Has climate change already started to affect natural systems?

The following IPCC documents from the  WG II Technical Summary support the Level 3 passage:

4.1.2. Has climate change already affected human systems?

The following IPCC documents from the  WG II Technical Summary support the Level 3 passage:

4.2. How potentially could climate change affect us?

4.2.1. How potentially could climate change affect natural systems?

The following IPCC documents from the  WG II Technical Summary support the Level 3 passage:

4.2.2 How potentially could climate change affect human systems?

The following IPCC documents from the  WG II Technical Summary support the Level 3 passage:

Projected adverse impacts based on models and other studies include:

  • A general reduction in potential crop yields in most tropical and sub-tropical regions for most projected increases in temperature [4.2. Agriculture and food security ]
  • A general reduction, with some variation, in potential crop yields in most regions in mid-latitudes for increases in annual-average temperature of more than a few degrees C [4.2. Agriculture and food security ]
  • Decreased water availability for populations in many water-scarce regions, particularly in the sub-tropics [4.1. Water resources ]
  • An increase in the number of people exposed to vector-borne (e.g., malaria) and water-borne diseases (e.g., cholera), and an increase in heat stress mortality [4.7. Human health ]
  • A widespread increase in the risk of flooding for many human settlements (tens of millions of inhabitants in settlements studied) from both increased heavy precipitation events and sea-level rise [4.5. Human settlements, energy, and industry ]
  • Increased energy demand for space cooling due to higher summer temperatures. [4.5. Human settlements, energy, and industry ]

Projected beneficial impacts based on models and other studies include:

4.3. What other major impacts could climate change possibly have?

4.3.1 Could climate change have major consequences?

The following IPCC documents from the  WG II Technical Summary support the Level 3 passage:

4.3.2. What is the risk of large-scale and possibly irreversible impacts?

The following IPCC documents from the  WG II Technical Summary support the Level 3 passage:

4.3.3. What are Some Examples of the Projected Changes and their Impacts?

The following IPCC documents from the  WG II Technical Summary support the Level 3 passage:

4.4. What should be done? 

The following IPCC documents from the  WG II Technical Summary support the Level 3 passage:

4.4.1. Who will be affected? 

 WG II Technical Summary

Benefits and costs of climate change effects have been estimated in monetary units and aggregated to national, regional, and global scales.

4.4.2. How can vulnerability be reduced?

The following IPCC documents from the  WG II Technical Summary support the Level 3 passage:

Related publication:
Climate Change homeClimate Change 2001 Assessment
Other Figures & Tables on this publication:

Adaptive Capacity, Vulnerability, and Key Concerns by Region

Facts on environmental matters

Table SPM.1 Estimates of potential global greenhouse gas emission reductions in 2010 and in 2020

The Emissions Scenarios from the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES)

Expert Links on Climate Change

Expert Links on Climate Change

Links on Climate Change

Expert Links on Climate Change

Expert Links on Climate Change

Expert Links on Climate Change

Expert Links on Climate Change

Expert Links on Climate Change

Other views on Climate Change

Footnotes for the Summary for Policymakers of IPCC Working Group III

Footnotes for Table 1 of IPCC SPM WG II

Footnotes for the Summary for Policymakers of IPCC Working Group 1

Footnotes for the Summary for Policymakers of IPCC Working Group II

Variations of the Earth's surface temperature for :

Indicators of the human influence on the atmosphere during the Industrial Era

The global mean radiative forcing of the climate system for the year 2000, relative to 1750

Simulated annual global mean surface temperatures

The global climate of the 21st Century

Documented Climate Change Impacts

Figure SPM-2 - Reasons for Concern

Figure SPM-3 - Projected Changes in Annual Runoff

Carbon in Oil, Gas and Coal Reserves Compared with Historic Fossil Fuel Carbon Emissions (in gigatonnes)

Footnotes to Table SPM-1 (Question 6.2.2)

Figure 8.1 Precipitation

Figure 8.2 Hurricanes

Schematic of observed variations of the temperature indicators / the hydrological and storm-related indicators

Many external factors force climate change

The annual mean change of the temperature (colour shading) and its range (isolines)

Analysis of inter-model consistency in regional relative warming

GCRIO

UNFCCC

Pew Climate

NCDC

Climate Ark

Climatic Research Unit

CICERO

World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Expert Links on Climate Change