The World Above 1.5°C: Flooding Disasters from Libya to Hong Kong

Global temperatures have slightly decreased after a  summer with 36 consecutive days above any previous record, a phenomenon not seen in at least 125,000 years. However, the two consecutive months above 1.5C provided a... READ MORE

Polar Tipping Points Hub in WEF Global Collaboration Village

This week, the Polar Tipping Points Hub was launched in the Global Collaboration Village, a metaverse built by the World Economic Forum in partnership with Accenture and Microsoft, with scientific support from Arctic... READ MORE

Arctic Basecamp Plays Significant Role in New Polar Metaverse by World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum (WEF) launched the Polar Tipping Points Hub, a groundbreaking virtual reality experience in collaboration with Accenture and Microsoft, yesterday at UN Climate Week in New York... READ MORE

Mind-blowing alarm bells need to be ringing: Antarctica’s ice remains well-below any previous record

“Almost mind-blowing.” That’s how Walter Meier of the NSIDC describes the records Antarctica has set this year.... READ MORE

A rare northern hurricane continues to make records

Hurricane Lee is preparing to slam into northern New England and the Canadian... READ MORE

COUNTDOWN

CO2 Budget Depletion

ARCTIC BREAKDOWN IS A RISK MULTIPLIER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

THE RISK

ARCTIC WARMING CAN CAUSES EXTREME WEATHER ACROSS THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE. The catastrophic and costly storms, heat waves and other extreme weather hammering the world’s cities and regions have been linked to changes in the rapidly warming Arctic. Between 2010 and 2019, record-breaking storms, floods, and other natural disasters were the costliest in modern history with losses totaling US$2.98 trillion.

SEE THE DATA

SOME OF THE WORLD’S MOST POPULATED PLACES ARE ON THE SHORES OF RISING OCEANS. Seas are rising faster now than over any century in the past 3,000 years. Coastline flooding of low-lying cities and regions as well as devastating coastal erosion will worsen and happen more often in the decades ahead.

SEE THE DATA

IPCC FINDINGS

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the world’s most authoritative source on climate change. It reviews all published literature to provide comprehensive and objective scientific information.

ARCTIC MELT-WATER UPS THE RISK OF FLOODED COASTAL CITIES

Heavy rains, growing worse since the 1950s, will continue to get 7% more intense with every 1°C of global warming, according to the UN’s latest special report on climate science, and devastating category 4 or 5 cyclones will happen more often. Cities are projected to suffer more frequent and intense heatwaves, as well as heavier rains and runoff. In the world’s many coastal cities, sea level rise and storm surges will combine with more intense rains and storms to make severe flooding far more common. Elsewhere, heatwaves and droughts are expected to occur together more often, including in crop-producing areas.

  • Heavy rains around the world have been getting increasingly worse and more frequent since the 1950s, and strong tropical cyclones have occurred more often and intensified more rapidly over the past four decades.
  • Droughts are happening more often and intensifying in some regions.
  • Unprecedented extreme storms and other never-seen-before weather events will happen more often in the future.
  • Sea levels around the world are expected to rise by up to 0.55 metres by 2100. If carbon emissions are reduced, oceans will climb 0.44-0.76 meters, but if not, they’re expected to rise 0.63-1.01 metres.

EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS

DATA SOURCE

Charts best viewed in landscape mode, rotate your phone to explore this chart.

Science finds close links between Arctic warming and extreme weather across the Northern Hemisphere. Devastating and costly cyclones, heatwaves, droughts and other weather disasters across North America, Europe and Asia have all been tied to the effects of super-charged Arctic warming.

SEA LEVEL RISE

DATA SOURCE

Charts best viewed in landscape mode, rotate your phone to explore this chart.

Melting glaciers and ice sheets, including those in the Arctic, are the main reason sea levels increased between 2006 and 2018. Oceans, which rose by 20 millimetres (0.79 inches) between 1901 and 2018, are now rising by almost four millimetres (0.16 inches) per year. Higher oceans, combined with more intense storms and rain, are expected to cause more catastrophic flooding in coastal cities around the world.

ARCTIC RISK INDICATORS

The following gauges show up-to-date data regarding key indicators in the Arctic. These indicators clearly point to the crisis at hand.

Greenland rate of ice loss
13 million l/s
on average
13 million tonnes/s
on average
Arctic Sea Ice Extent
2,161,499 km²
below 1981-2010 average on 20-Sep-2023
834,555 mi²
below 1981-2010 average on 20-Sep-2023
Arctic Amplification
4 times
faster than global average
Arctic 66N+ Wildfire emissions
24,865.56 megatonnes CO₂e
CO₂e emissions in 2023 so far
Arctic Air Quality (PM2.5)
4.66 microgram per cubic meter
on 22-Sep-2023
Global mean Sea Level
3.4mm/year
since 1993