Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The threat of climate change is becoming more and more real. Recently, a study in the United States (US) stated that if there were no changes, 95% of the earth’s sea level would be uninhabitable by 2100.
Quotes Nature World News, this is projected from looking at marine life. Most marine life is supported by a surface sea environment that has surface water temperatures, acidity and concentrations of the mineral arogonite suitable for bone or shell formation.
But with rising levels of CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere, in at least three million years, there are concerns sea surface temperatures may become less friendly to the species that live there.
Lead author of the study Katie Lotterhos, from Northeastern University’s Center for Marine Science, said that warmer, more acidic, and less mineralized oceans make the ocean uninhabitable for the creatures that live there.
“In the next few decades, the species community found in one area will continue to move and change rapidly,” he said, quoted on Monday (10/10/2021).
Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recorded the number of disasters, such as floods and heat waves (heatwave), due to climate change has increased fivefold over the last 50 years. Not only that, this series of disasters also killed more than 2 million people and cost a total of US$ 3.64 trillion or around Rp 51,981 trillion (assuming Rp 14,200/US$).
In its latest report, the UN organization said it carried out the most comprehensive review of deaths and economic losses from weather, water and climate extremes ever produced. It surveyed about 11,000 disasters that occurred between 1979-2019, including major disasters such as the 1983 drought in Ethiopia, the most fatal event with 300,000 deaths, and Hurricane Katrina in the United States (US) in 2005 which cost $163.61 billion in losses.
“Economic losses increase as exposure increases,” said WMO Secretary General Petteri Taalas.
While disaster hazards are becoming more expensive and frequent, the annual death toll has fallen from more than 50,000 in the 1970s to about 18,000 in 2010. This shows that better planning is paying off.
“The improved multi-hazard early warning system has led to a significant reduction in mortality,” Taalas added.
However, more than 91% of the 2 million deaths occur in developing countries. It notes that only half of the 193 WMO members have a multi-hazard early warning system. Petteri Taalas also said that “severe gaps” in weather observations, especially in Africa, undermined the accuracy of early warning systems.
WMO hopes the report will be used to help governments develop policies to better protect communities.
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