{"id":14886,"date":"2019-03-18T19:40:42","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T11:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=14886"},"modified":"2019-03-18T20:13:13","modified_gmt":"2019-03-18T12:13:13","slug":"temperature-in-arctic-to-increase-by-3-to-5-degrees-c-by-2050-says-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=14886","title":{"rendered":"Temperature in Arctic to increase by 3 to 5 degrees C by 2050, says report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Arctic is expected to see a 3-5 degrees celsius temperature rise by 2050, says a new report. Photo courtesy of United Nations Environment. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nairobi, March 18 (NNN-UN)\u2013 Even if the world were to cut emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, winter temperatures in the Arctic would rise 3-5\u00b0C by 2050 and 5-9\u00b0C by 2080, devastating the region and unleashing sea level rises worldwide, a press release issued at the UN Environment meet here last week said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citing the Global Linkages – A graphic look at the changing Arctic<\/em> report, the press statement said that rapidly thawing permafrost meanwhile could even accelerate climate change further and derail efforts to meet the Paris Agreement\u2019s long-term goal of limiting the rise in global temperature to 2\u00b0C, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7     Even if Paris Agreement goals met, Arctic winter temperatures will increase 3-5\u00b0C by 2050 compared to 1986-2005 levels. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Other environmental pressures on the Arctic identified by the paper \u2013 released at the United Nations Environment Assembly \u2013 include ocean acidification and plastic pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic,\u201d said Joyce Msuya, UN Environment\u2019s Acting Executive Director. \u201cWe have the science; now more urgent climate action is needed to steer away from tipping points that could be even worse for our planet than we first thought.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if global emissions were to halt overnight, winter temperatures in the Arctic would still increase 4 to 5\u00b0C by 2100 compared to the late 20th century, the study finds. This increase is locked into the climate system by greenhouse gases already emitted and ocean heat storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arctic societies now must respond to climate change through suitable adaptation actions. Arctic Indigenous Peoples already face increased food insecurity. By 2050, four million people, and around 70% of today\u2019s Arctic infrastructure, will be threatened by thawing permafrost, the report noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7     Thawing permafrost could wake \u2018sleeping giant\u2019 of more greenhouse gases, potentially derailing global climate goals.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe urgency to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement is clearly manifested in the Arctic, because it is one of the most vulnerable and rapidly changing regions in the world,\u201d said the FinnishMinister of the Environment, Energy and Housing, Kimmo Tiilikainen. \u201cWe need to make substantial near-term cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, black carbon and other so-called short-lived climate pollutants all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impacts globally would also be huge. From 1979 to the present, Arctic sea ice is estimated to have declined by 40%. Climate models predict that, at the current rate of CO\u2082 emissions, Arctic summers will be ice-free by the 2030s. The melting of the Greenland ice cap and Arctic glaciers contribute to one third of sea level rise worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if the Paris Agreement is met, Arctic permafrost is expected to shrink 45% compared to today. Globally, these frozen soils hold an estimated 1,672 billion metric tonnes of carbon. Increased thawing is expected to contribute significantly to carbon dioxide and methane emissions. The resulting warming will in turn lead to more thawing \u2013 an effect known as \u2018positive feedback\u2019. This accelerated climate change could even throw the Paris Agreement\u2019s 2\u00b0C goal off track, the report underlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ocean acidification and pollution taking their toll<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ocean acidification is disproportionately impacting Arctic marine species. This is because cold water can hold more dissolved CO2<\/sub>, while melting ice spreads the acidity further. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, the world\u2019s ocean has become 30% more acidic. The more acidic the water, the more energy Arctic corals, molluscs, sea urchins and plankton must use to build their shells and skeletons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its pristine image, the Arctic\u2019s geographical characteristics and cold climate mean the region\u2019s ocean, seafloor and coastline are a sink for contaminants from around the globe. Only 1,000 out of the 150,000 chemical substances in use worldwide are regularly monitored. A global approval system for new chemicals is therefore needed, the report argues. Alternative controls are also seen as necessary for chemicals that fall outside of existing treaties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a positive note, the amount of regulated chemicals in humans and animals living in the Arctic was found to be decreasing. These include some Persistent Organic Pollutants regulated under UN Environment\u2019s Stockholm Convention. However, the decrease could be due to changing diets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NNN-UN<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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Nairobi, March 18 (NNN-UN)\u2013 Even if the world were to cut emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, winter temperatures in the Arctic would rise 3-5\u00b0C by 2050 and 5-9\u00b0C by 2080, devastating the region and unleashing sea level rises worldwide, a press release issued at the UN Environment meet here last week said. Citing the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":14888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[288],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14886"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}