Quotes from the Assessment Report 6 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
IPCC press release "Climate change: a
threat to human wellbeing and health of the planet. Taking action
now can secure our future."
BERLIN, Feb 28 — Human-induced climate change is
causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting
the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts
to reduce the risks. People and ecosystems least able to cope are
being hardest hit, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released today.
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TS-6:
The following overarching conclusions have been derived
from the whole of the assessment of Working Group II:
i) The magnitude of observed impacts and projected climate risks
indicate the scale of decision making, funding and investment
needed over the next decade if climate resilient development is to
be achieved.
ii) Since AR5, climate risks are appearing faster and will get more
severe sooner (high confidence). Impacts cascade through natural
and human systems, often compounding with the impacts from other
human activities. Feasible, integrated mitigation and adaptation
solutions can be tailored to specific locations and monitored for
their effectiveness, while avoiding conflict with sustainable
development objectives, and managing risks and trade-offs (high
confidence).
iii) Available evidence on projected climate risks indicates that
opportunities for adaptation to many climate risks will likely
become constrained and have reduced effectiveness should 1.5°C
global warming be exceeded and that, for many locations on Earth,
capacity for adaptation is already significantly limited. The
maintenance and recovery of natural and human systems will require
the achievement of mitigation targets.
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TS-9
TS.B.1 Climate change has altered marine, terrestrial
and freshwater ecosystems all around the world (very high
confidence). Effects have been experienced earlier, are more
widespread and with further- reaching consequences than anticipated
(medium confidence).
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TS-9
TS.B.1.1 Anthropogenic climate change has exposed
ecosystems to conditions that are unprecedented over millennia
(high confidence), which has greatly impacted species on land and
in the ocean (very high confidence). Consistent with expectations,
species in all ecosystems have shifted their geographic ranges and
altered the timing of seasonal events (very high confidence). Among
thousands of species spread across terrestrial, freshwater and
marine systems, half to two-thirds have shifted their ranges to
higher latitudes (very high confidence), and approximately
two-thirds have shifted towards earlier spring life events (very
high confidence) in response to warming. The move of diseases and
their vectors has brought new diseases into high Arctic and at
higher elevations in mountain regions to which local wildlife and
humans are not resistant (high confidence). These processes have
led to emerging hybridisation, competition, temporal or spatial
mismatches in predator-prey, insect-plant and host-parasite
relationships, and invasion of alien plant pests or pathogens
(medium co
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TS-13
TS.B.2.2 Some extreme events have already emerged which
exceeded projected global mean warming conditions for 2100, leading
to abrupt changes in marine and terrestrial ecosystems (high
confidence).
TS.B.2.3 Climate-related extremes have affected the
productivity of agricultural, forestry and fishery sectors (high
confidence). Droughts, floods, wildfires and marine heatwaves
contribute to reduced food availability and increased food prices,
threatening food security, nutrition, and livelihoods of millions
of people across regions (high confidence).
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TS-14
TS.B.2.4: Extreme climatic events have been observed in
all inhabited regions, with many regions experiencing unprecedented
consequences, particularly when multiple hazards occur in the same
time or space (very high confidence). Since AR5, the impacts of
climate change and extreme weather events such as wildfires,
extreme heat, cyclones, storms, and floods have adversely affected
or caused loss and damage to human health; shelter; displacement;
incomes and livelihoods; security; and inequality (high
confidence). Over 20 million people have been internally displaced
annually by weather-related extreme events since 2008, with storms
and floods the most common drivers (high confidence).
Climate-related extreme events are followed by negative impacts on
mental health, wellbeing, life satisfaction, happiness, cognitive
performance, and aggression in exposed populations (very high
confidence)
TS.B.3 Climate change is already stressing food and
forestry systems, with negative consequences for livelihoods, food
security and nutrition of hundreds of millions of people,
especially in low and mid-latitudes (high confidence). The global
food system is failing to address food insecurity and malnutrition
in an environmentally sustainable way.
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TS-16:
TS.B.4.2 Worldwide, people are increasingly experiencing unfamiliar
precipitation patterns, including extreme precipitation events (high
confidence). Nearly half a billion people now live in areas where
the long-term average precipitation is now as high as was previously
seen in only about one in six years (medium confidence).
Approximately 163 million people now live in unfamiliarly dry areas
(medium confidence) compared to 50 years ago. The intensity of heavy
precipitation has increased in many regions since the 1950s (high
confidence). Substantially more people (~709 million) live in
regions where annual maximum one-day precipitation has increased
than regions where it has decreased (~86 million) (medium
confidence) since the 1950s. At the same time, more people (~700
million) have been experiencing longer dry spells than shorter dry
spells since the 1950s (medium confidence), leading to compound
hazards related to both warming and precipitation extremes in most
parts of the world (medium confidence).
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TS.B.5 Climate change has already harmed human physical
and mental health (very high confidence). In all regions, health
impacts often undermine efforts for inclusive development. Women,
children, the elderly, Indigenous People, low-income households,
and socially marginalized groups within cities, settlements,
regions, and countries are the most vulnerable (high
confidence).
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TS-17
TS.B.5.3 Increasing temperatures and heatwaves have
increased mortality and morbidity (very high confidence), with
impacts that vary by age, gender, urbanization, and socioeconomic
factors (very high confidence). A significant proportion of warm
season heat-related mortality in temperate regions is attributed to
observed anthropogenic climate change (medium confidence), with
less data available for tropical regions in Africa (high
confidence). For some heatwave events over the last two decades,
associated health impacts have been partially attributed to
observed climate change (high confidence). Highly vulnerable groups
experiencing health impacts from heat stress include anyone working
outdoors and especially those doing outdoor manual labour (e.g.,
construction work, farming). Potential hours of work lost due to
heat has increased significantly over the past two decades (high
confidence). Some regions are already experiencing heat stress
conditions at or approaching the upper limits of labour
productivity (high confidence).
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TS-18
TS.B.5.4 Climate change has contributed to malnutrition
in all its forms in many regions, including undernutrition,
overnutrition, and obesity, and to disease susceptibility (high
confidence), especially for women, pregnant women, children,
low-income households, Indigenous Peoples, minority groups, and
small-scale producers (high confidence).
TS.B.5.8 Climate change driven range shifts of
wildlife, exploitation of wildlife, and loss of wildlife habitat
quality have increased opportunities for pathogens to spread from
wildlife to human populations, which has resulted in increased
emergence of zoonotic disease [a disease which can be transmitted
to humans from animals] epidemics and pandemics (medium
confidence). Zoonoses that have been historically rare or never
documented in Arctic and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia, and
North America are emerging as a result of climate-induced
environmental change (e.g., anthrax) and spreading poleward and
increasing in incidence (e.g., tularemia) (very high
confidence).
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TS.B.9 The effects of climate change impacts have been
observed across economic sectors, although the size of the damages
varies by sector and by region (high confidence). Recent extreme
weather and climate-induced events have been associated with large
costs through damaged property, infrastructure, and supply chain
disruptions, although development patterns have driven much of
these increases (high confidence). Adverse impacts on economic
growth have been identified from extreme weather events (high
confidence) with large effects in developing countries (high
confidence). Widespread climate impacts have undermined economic
livelihoods, especially for vulnerable populations (high
confidence). Climate impacts and projected risks have been
insufficiently internalized into private and public sector planning
and budgeting practices and adaptation finance (medium
confidence).
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TS-36
TS.C.9. Climate change increases risks for a larger
number of growing cities and settlements across wider areas,
especially in coastal and mountain regions, affecting an additional
2.5 billion people residing in cities mainly in Africa and Asia by
2050 (high confidence) In all cities and urban areas, projected
risks faced by people from climate-driven impacts has increased
(high confidence). Many risks will not be felt evenly across cities
and settlements or within cities. Communities in informal
settlements will have higher exposure and lower capacity to adapt
(high confidence). Most at risk are women and children who make up
the majority populations of these settlements (high confidence).
Risks to critical physical infrastructure in cities can be severe
and pervasive under higher warming levels, potentially resulting in
compound and cascading risks, and can disrupt livelihoods both
within and across cities (high confidence). In coastal cities and
settlements, risks to people and infrastructure will get
progressively worse in a changing climate, sea-level rise, and with
ongoing coastal development (very high confidence).
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TS.C.10 Across sectors and regions, market and
non-market damages and adaptation costs will be lower at 1.5°C
compared to 3°C or higher global warming levels (high confidence).
Recent estimates of projected global economic damages of climate
impacts are overall higher than previous estimates and generally
increase with global average temperature (high confidence).
However, the spread in the estimates of the magnitude of these
damages is substantial and does not allow for robust range to be
established (high confidence). Non-market, non-economic damages and
adverse impacts on livelihoods will be concentrated in regions and
populations that are already more vulnerable (high confidence).
Socioeconomic drivers and more inclusive development will largely
determine the extent of these damages (high
confidence).
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TS.C.13 Warming pathways which imply a temporary
temperature increase over "well below 2°C above pre-industrial" for
multi-decadal time spans imply severe risks and irreversible
impacts in many natural and human systems (e.g. glacier melt, loss
of coral reefs, loss of human lives due to heat) even if the
temperature goals are reached later (high confidence).