The
just published synthesis report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC) distills and combines the key findings of the three working groups “Scientific Basis” (Working Group I), “Climate Impacts and Adaptation” (WG II) and “Measures to Mitigate Climate Change” (WG III). We have compiled the key statements for you in a compact form and show what this means for Switzerland.
Humans are responsible for recent climate changes
Man-made greenhouse gas emissions have continued to increase over the past decade. The concentration of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is now higher than it has been for at least two million years. This increase has led to rapid climate warming. The global average temperature in the period 2011-2020 is 1.1 °C above the pre-industrial average temperature of 1850-1900.
The temperature is rising more rapidly over land than over the ocean. The warming is particularly pronounced in the polar regions. Switzerland’s climate has warmed by 2.5 °C over the same period.
The global average temperature will continue to rise sri lanka phone number library in the near future (2021-2040). Even in the weakest emissions scenario, it is likely that it will warm by 1.5 °C over this period compared to pre-industrial levels. If greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated, we must expect significantly greater warming. The pattern of stronger temperature increases over land masses and in the polar regions and somewhat weaker increases over the world’s oceans will be even more pronounced in the future.
Climate change is leading to far-reaching changes in the atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets and continents. Many of the consequences of global warming are irreversible on a timescale of several centuries. Examples include rising sea levels, the loss of sea ice and the retreat of glaciers. In addition, extreme events such as heat and drought occurring simultaneously are becoming increasingly likely.
These effects also affect Switzerland and have already been examined in detail in the Swiss climate scenarios CH2018. In the future, we can expect drier summers, heavier rainfall, significantly increased heat stress and winters with little snow.
climate change
Swiss climate scenarios
Adaptation becomes more difficult
In many affected sectors, more has been done to hague academy of international law courses adapt to climate change since the last IPCC synthesis report in 2014. Some measures have effectively reduced climate risks. Examples of improvements can be seen in crops, water management, agriculture, forestry and fisheries. There are also more concepts for dealing with heat and floods.
However, adapting to climate change will become more difficult adb directory as warming increases. More human and natural systems will reach the limits of their adaptive capacity, which will lead to greater damage.