How bad is climate change by now? How bad can it get? What can we do about it? Here’s the story in short. Read more >> http://www.greenpeace.org/ipcc

1. Climate
Change
Reality
Check
©
Daniel
Beltra
/
Greenpeace

2.
How
bad
is
climate
change
by
now?
How
bad
can
it
get?
What
can
we
do
about
it?
Here’s
the
story
in
short.*
*
=
The
findings
are
derived
mainly
from
the
FiIh
Assessment
Report
of
the
Intergovernmental
Panel
on
Climate
Change
(IPCC),
complemented
with
some
other
recent
studies.
Storm
near
Fort
Dodge,
Iowa,
USA.
©
Greenpeace
/
Daniel
Beltrá

3. Climate
change,
caused
by
our
greenhouse
gas
polluSon,
is
already
widespread.
Impacts
can
be
detected
on
all
conSnents
and
across
the
ocean.
(IPCC,
2013)
Glacier
Pio
XI,
Patagonia.
©
Greenpeace
/
Daniel
Beltrá

4. “The
atmosphere
and
ocean
have
warmed,
the
amounts
of
snow
and
ice
have
diminished,
sea
level
has
risen,
and
the
concentraSons
of
greenhouse
gases
have
increased.”
(IPCC,
2013)
Hurricane
Sandy
AIermath
in
New
Jersey.
©
Greenpeace
/
Tim
Aubry

5. Oceans
have
absorbed
more
than
90%
of
the
heat
accumulaSng
in
the
atmosphere,
driving
species
towards
cooler
waters.
CO2
is
now
causing
oceans
to
acidify
at
a
rate
that
is
likely
the
fastest
in
300
million
years,
posing
a
serious
threat
to
marine
life.
(IPCC,
2013;
WMO
2014)
"The
combina-on
of
acidifica-on,
warming
and
deoxygena-on
that
we
are
seeing
-­‐
the
so-­‐called
'deadly
trio'
is
unprecedented
in
the
carbon
record.
It
poses
a
serious
threat
not
just
to
the
ocean
but
to
the
Earth
system
services
it
supports
and
there
can
be
no
stronger
impera-ve
for
ac-on
by
governments
and
others
to
reduce
greenhouse
gas
emissions
to
the
lowest
possible
levels
in
the
shortest
amount
of
-me".
Alex
Rogers,
IPSO
ScienSfic
Director
and
Professor
of
ConservaSon
Biology,
University
of
Oxford
Alacranes
Reef,
Mexico.
©
Luis
Sandoval
/
Greenpeace

6. Species
have
shiIed
their
geographic
ranges,
seasonal
acSviSes,
migraSon
paeerns
and
abundances.
(IPCC,
2013)
Golden
Toad
©
U.S.
Fish
and
Wildlife
Service

7. NegaSve
impacts
on
crop
yields
have
been
more
common
than
posiSve
impacts.
Climate
extremes
in
key
producing
regions
have
resulted
in
periods
of
rapid
food
and
cereal
price
increases.
(IPCC,
2014)
A
rice
field
destroyed
by
salt
water
from
huge
Sdal
surges
in
Sundarbans,
India.
©
Greenpeace
/
Peter
Caton

8. Since
the
1950s,
many
of
the
observed
changes
are
unprecedented
over
decades
to
millennia.
(IPCC,
2013)
Amazon
Drought,
October
2005.
©
Greenpeace
/
Daniel
Beltrá

9. There
are
alarming
signs
of
things
gehng
rapidly
worse.
Cyclone
Phailin
AIermath
in
India.
©
Peter
Caton
/
Greenpeace

10. “The
world
experienced
unprecedented
high-­‐impact
climate
extremes
during
the
2001-­‐2010
decade”
(WMO,
2013)
Steppe
Fire
in
Russia.
©
Greenpeace
/
Igor
Podgorny

11. From
2002
to
2011,
the
Greenland
ice
sheet
lost
ice
six
9mes
faster
on
average
compared
to
the
decade
that
went
before
it.
(IPCC,
2013)
Greenland
melt
lake.
©
Greenpeace
/
Nick
Cobbing

12. Since
1993,
on
average,
sea
levels
have
been
rising
nearly
twice
as
fast
as
during
the
past
century.
(IPCC,
2013)
BeSo
village,
KiribaS.
©
Greenpeace
/
Jeremy
Sueon-­‐Hibbert

13. The
ArcSc
sea
ice
extent
has
been
diminishing
significantly
faster
than
projected.
(IPCC,
2013)
Ice
Floe
in
the
ArcSc.
©
Daniel
Beltrá
/
Greenpeace

14. In
May
2014
NASA-­‐UCI
study
reported:
glaciers
in
the
Amundsen
Sea
sector
of
the
West
AntarcSca
have
passed
a
point
of
no
return.
The
melSng
is
now
unstoppable
and
will
eventually
cause
sea
levels
to
rise
by
1.2
meters.
The
loss
of
ice
could
also
trigger
the
collapse
of
the
rest
of
the
West
AntarcSc
ice
sheet,
which
would
result
in
a
sea
level
rise
of
3
to
5
meters.
(NASA)
NOTE!
This
finding
is
too
fresh
to
be
covered
in
the
IPCC
5th
Assessment
Report.
For
more
informa-on,
see
NASA
Glaciologist
Eric
Rignot’s
blog
here:
hPp://goo.gl/LhS0Ql
©
Daniel
Beltra
/
Greenpeace

15. IT’S
US

16. "It
is
extremely
likely
(95%)
that
human
influence
has
been
the
dominant
cause
of
the
observed
warming
since
the
mid-­‐20th
century."
(IPCC,
2013)
©
Simon
Lim
/
Greenpeace

17. The
atmospheric
concentraSons
of
carbon
dioxide,
methane,
and
nitrous
oxide
have
increased
to
levels
unprecedented
in
at
least
the
last
800,000
years.
(IPCC,
2013)
AcSvists
protesSng
a
new
coal-­‐fired
power
plant
at
the
Maasvlakte
in
Roeerdam.
©
Greenpeace
/
Joël
van
Houdt

18. Most
emissions
result
from
the
burning
of
fossil
fuels.
From
2000
to
2010
emissions
grew
parScularly
fast,
largely
due
to
the
increased
burning
of
coal.
(IPCC,
2014)
Qinhuangdao
Coal
Port
in
China.
©
Greenpeace
/
Liu
Feiyue

19. The
rest
of
emissions
are
largely
caused
by
deforestaSon,
agriculture
and
other
land-­‐use.
(IPCC,
2014)
Farmed
land
on
completely
deforested
area
in
the
Amazon.
©
Greenpeace
/
Daniel
Beltrá

20. How
bad
can
it
get?
Child
on
Flooded
Street
in
Porto
Velho,
Brazil.
©
Lunae
Parracho
/
Greenpeace

21. How
bad
it
gets
is
up
to
us
Every
ton
of
oil,
coal
or
gas
we
burn
or
forest
we
destroy
is
making
the
situaSon
worse.
With
conSnued
emissions
we
could
witness
4-­‐5°C
warming
or
more
by
the
end
of
the
century.
That
is
mulSple
Smes
the
warming
experienced
to
date
and
approaches
the
difference
between
today
and
the
last
ice
age,
happening
during
one
person’s
lifeSme
instead
of
millennia.
(IPCC,
2014;
WB
2012)
Dukhdev
Tikadar,
living
in
Ghoramara
island,
India,
is
one
of
the
many
people
affected
by
sea
level
rise.
©
Greenpeace
/
Peter
Caton

22. Further
warming
threatens
the
fundamentals
of
human
security:
homes,
food,
water,
income,
health
and
livelihoods.
(IPCC,
2014)
AIermath
of
Typhoon
Haiyan
in
the
Philippines.
©
MaSmSman
/
Greenpeace

23. war
Indirectly,
climate
change
increases
the
risk
of
violent
conflicts
in
the
form
of
civil
war
and
inter-­‐group
violence
by
amplifying
poverty
and
economic
shocks.
(IPCC,
2014)
©
Greenpeace
/
Pierre
Gleizes

24. "There
is
no
one
on
Earth
who
escapes
the
effects
of
climate
change.”
(Michael
Oppenheimer,
IPCC
Lead
Author)
Moorland, Somerset, UK. ©
Adam
Gray/SWNS.com

25. What
can
we
do
about
it?
Protest
at
Ministry
of
Energy
in
Bangkok.
©
Greenpeace
/
Vinai
Dithajohn

26.
If
we
act
fast
to
cut
emissions,
catastrophic
and
irreversible
impacts
can
sSll
be
avoided.
Warming
can
sSll
be
limited
to
well
below
2°C
by
2100.
SoluSons
are
more
available
than
ever
before.
Rainforest
in
Tasmania.
©
Markus
Mauthe
/
Greenpeace

27. In
just
a
few
years,
renewable
energy
technologies
have
demonstrated
substanSal
performance
improvements
and
cost
reducSons,
and
a
growing
number
of
technologies
have
achieved
a
level
of
maturity
to
enable
deployment
at
a
significant
scale.
(IPCC,
2014)
The
PS20
solar
tower
plant
at
Sanlucar
la
Mayor
outside
Seville,
Spain.
©
Markel
Redondo
/
Greenpeace

28. “The
use
of
renewable
energy
is
oIen
associated
with
co-­‐benefits,
including
the
reducSon
of
air
polluSon,
local
employment
opportuniSes,
fewer
severe
accidents
compared
to
some
other
energy
supply
technologies,
as
well
as
improved
energy
access
and
security.”
(IPCC,
2014)

29.
Recipe
for
acSon
(IPCC
findings
made
easy)

30. 1.
Head
for
zero
emissions,
starSng
now
• There
is
no
safe
level
of
greenhouse
gas
polluSon.
Eventually,
emissions
must
be
brought
to
zero.
• First
priority
is
to
stop
emissions
growth
within
a
few
years
and
get
them
to
a
rapidly
declining
trend.
• The
costs
of
acSon
will
be
moderate,
while
the
costs
of
inacSon
would
be
unthinkable.

31. 2.
Switch
from
dirty
to
clean
energy
• ConvenSonal
fossil
fuel
technologies
burning
coal,
oil
and
gas,
must
be
phased
out
in
the
coming
decades
and
replaced
with
zero
and
low-­‐carbon
energy
technologies.
• The
vast
majority
of
known
fossil
fuel
reserves
must
remain
in
the
ground.
• Improving
energy
efficiency
in
buildings,
transport
and
industry
has
big
potenSal
and
comes
with
many
benefits.
• During
the
next
5
to
15
years,
investment
trends
and
financial
flows
must
be
shiIed
away
from
fossil
fuel
extracSon
and
technologies
into
soluSons.
Offshore
wind
farm
Tuno
Knob,
Denmark.
©
Greenpeace
/
Kate
Davison

32. “Renewable
energy
is
a
real
opSon.
Half
of
the
world’s
new
electricity
generaSng
capacity
in
2012
came
from
renewables.
We
also
have
tremendous
opportuniSes
to
improve
energy
efficiency.
And
we
can
further
reduce
emissions
by
stopping
deforesta9on.”
(IPCC
Chairman
Rajendra
Pachauri
at
the
New
York
Climate
Summit
2014)
Wind
Farms
in
Iowa.
©
Karuna
Ang
/
Greenpeace

33. • ProtecSng
forests
is
crucial
both
for
reducing
warming
and
for
adapSng
to
it.
• Healthy
forests
and
oceans
are
beeer
at
coping
with
the
stress
caused
by
changing
climate.
3.
Protect
forests
and
oceans
to
protects
ourselves
Tropical
Rainforest
in
Brazil
(Itaqui,
Parana).
©
Markus
Mauthe
/
Greenpeace

34. 4.
Heal
our
food
system
• Our
food
system
needs
to
adapt
to
a
changing
climate
and
limited
resources.
• Ecological
farming
pracSces
help
farmers
to
increase
producSon
in
a
way
that
protects
and
enhances
soil,
water,
and
biodiversity
and
contributes
to
greenhouse
gas
miSgaSon.
Organic
Farming
in
Negros.
©
Andri
Tambunan
/
Greenpeace

35. 5.
Face
the
true
scale
of
climate
change
• We
will
have
to
adapt
to
the
changes
that
we
can
no
longer
prevent.
Future
risks
must
be
assessed
in
a
realisSc
manner.
• The
more
fossil
fuels
we
burn
and
the
more
forests
we
destroy,
the
bigger
and
more
unpredictable
the
risks,
and
the
harder
they
will
be
to
adapt
to.
• At
some
point,
the
impacts
could
become
impossible
to
adapt
to.
Child
in
the
Amazon
near
Santarem.
©
Markus
Mauthe
/
Greenpeace

36. There’s
a
beeer,
cleaner
and
safer
future
that
is
already
unfolding
around
the
world.
But
we
must
speed
up
the
transiSon
away
from
fossil
fuels
to
clean,
renewable
energy.
Children
in
Dharnai
Village
in
India.
©
Vivek
M.
/
Greenpeace

37. Photo
by
Eduardo
Munoz/Reuters
Let’s
just
do
it!