DNA Explainer: Global warming is serious, here's why

In the coming days, the impact of climate change will be even grave than what the world is witnessing now. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, presented on Monday, suggests so. Even a temporary increase in global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius could wreak permanent damage on some ecosystems, the report has warned.

The Panel report warned of multiple climate change-induced disasters in the next two decades even if strong action is taken to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. It has said that the ability of human beings, and natural systems, to cope with the changing climate was already being tested. It warns that further rise in global warming would make it even more difficult to adapt.

The report lists mounting dangers to people, plants, animals, ecosystems and economies. The report highlights people being displaced from homes, places becoming uninhabitable, the number of species dwindling, coral disappearing, ice shrinking and rising and increasingly oxygen-depleted and acidic oceans.

Read | Risk of devastating floods to increase in coastal areas of India, warns study

What the report says

Over 3.5 billion people, which is over 45% of the global population, were living in areas highly vulnerable to climate change.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report has identified India as one of the vulnerable hotspots.

Several regions and important cities of India face very high risk of climate disasters like floods, sea-level rise and heat-waves.

Even a temporary increase in warming to 1.5 degree Celsius could wreak permanent damage on some ecosystems.

Any temperature increase over 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels will widen the scope of irreversible impacts.

It could be to polar, mountain and coastal ecosystems, and areas affected by ice sheet and glacier melt, or accelerating sea level rise.

The report said that the number of people living in low-lying coastal regions could increase to above one billion by 2050.

These low-lying coastal areas are under persistent threat of flooding due to rising temperatures and melting glaciers.

The third and final part of the report, which will look into the possibilities of reducing emissions, is expected to come out in April.

What IPCC report says on India

India is one of the countries that will be most 'economically harmed' by climate change, the report said.

The report highlights a risky anomaly of India facing both rising sea levels and water scarcity.

India is one of the most vulnerable countries globally in terms of the population that will be affected by sea-level rise.

By the middle of the century, around 35 million people in India could face annual coastal flooding.

45-50 million Indian will be at risk by the end of the century, the report by the IPCC Working Group (WG)-II said.

The latest report has, for the first time, made an assessment of regional and sectoral impacts of climate change.

It said Mumbai is at high risk of sea-level rise and flooding, while Ahmedabad faces serious danger of heat-waves.

It looked at granular data affecting these events and quantified these risks, so there is a much clearer understanding.

Health impact of climate change

For the first time, the IPCC report has looked at the health impacts of climate change.

It has found that climate change is increasing vector-borne and water-borne diseases such as malaria or dengue.

Vector-borne and water-borne diseases are particularly increasing in sub-tropical regions of Asia.

Deaths related to circulatory, respiratory, diabetic, infectious diseases and infant mortality are likely to increase.

Increasing frequency of extreme weather events like heatwaves, flooding, drought, air pollution was harmful.

These extreme weather events are contributing to under-nutrition, allergic diseases and even mental disorders.