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Key facts

  • The world has warmed by nearly 1° C over the last century. The rate of warming over the last 50 years is nearly twice that of the last 100 years.
  • Eleven of the last 12 years rank among the 12 warmest years on record.
  • Sea levels are rising at a rapid rate (having risen by 20cm over the 20th century); in Asia, the homes of 94 million people could be flooded by the end of the century, leading to large-scale migration.
  • The area of the world stricken by drought has doubled between 1970 and the early 2000s. In Africa fertile land is already turning to desert.
  • Unpredictable rainfall, together with rising sea levels and higher sea temperatures will lead to more frequent storms, floods and droughts.
  • Storm surges in coastal areas are a threat to the economies of low-lying countries like Egypt and Thailand, where many factories and offices are less than a metre above sea-level.
  • Natural disasters can set back a country’s economy by years. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch hit more than 25% of households in Honduras and led to a 7% drop in agricultural output. The number of people living in poverty in Honduras is now growing.
  • Between 1900 and 2004, 73% of disasters were climate related; 94% of disasters and 97% of disaster-related deaths occur in developing countries.
  • Humanitarian responses to disasters cost donors $6 billion every year.
  • By 2020 between 75 and 250 million people in Africa will be facing increased water shortages.
  • Over 3 billion people in the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent could be facing acute shortages of water – affecting productivity and jobs.
  • Rainfall in the wet season in Pakistan could increase by 5 to 50% by 2070, which would have significant impacts on cotton, the country’s main cash crop.
  • Climate change brings the risk of increases in serious diseases such as malaria, dengue, yellow fever and polio. Longer rainy seasons have already led to increased malaria in parts of Rwanda and Tanzania.
  • Temperatures in 2100 could be 1.4 to 5.8° higher than in 1990 if emissions aren’t curbed now.
  • A temperature rise of 2 to 3.5° in India would reduce farmers’ incomes by between 9 and 25%.
  • A temperature rise of 2° would dramatically shrink the land available for growing Robusta coffee in Uganda and restrict it to upland areas.
  • By 2025 two-thirds of the earth’s population will suffer water shortages.
  • The costs of ignoring climate change have been estimated at more than that of the two world wars and the Great Depression (5 to 20% of GDP) (Stern Report).
  • The cost of tackling the problem, however, could be around 1% of global GDP if mitigation policies are well-designed (Stern Report). Recent figures from the UNFCCC put the costs of adaptation for developing countries at between $28 to $67 billion in 2030.

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A child carries drinking water during floods in Bangladesh

A child carries drinking water during floods in Bangladesh - global warming increases the risk of flooding. Image - G.M.B. Akash/Panos Pictures

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