A 2.0-degree increase in global temperatures compared to pre-industrial levels will spell disaster for the Earth’s ice caps, glaciers, polar seas and permafrost, according to an NGO report released on Thursday.
The report by the International Initiative for the Cryosphere and Climate suggests that only drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can avert irreversible effects on the global cryosphere, the parts of the earth covered with ice and snow for at least part of the year.
This week, the UN stated that global climate commitments were falling far short of achieving the Paris Agreement’s target of keeping global warming below 2 degrees.
Given what has been learnt about the cryosphere since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, 1.5 degrees is not just preferable to 2 degrees; it is the only viable option, the NGO stresses.
If global warming reaches 2.0 degrees, significant, potentially rapid and irreversible increases in sea levels will occur due to the melting of ice caps, the report’s authors caution.
Moreover, the world would witness a significant loss of glacial ice, with “some disappearing entirely.”
Sea ice could be the most impacted sector of the cryosphere, and the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free every summer.
Consequently, the Arctic’s waters would absorb more of the 24-hour sun, further accelerating the thawing of permafrost and the melting of Greenland’s ice cap.
The report, reviewed by dozens of international scientists, comes on the heels of a warning by the United Nations that the world is failing to get a grip on the climate crisis.
