On Wednesday the 25th September 2019 the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, detailing the impact of climate change on the world’s ocean.
The impact of climate change is clearly visible from the melting of the ice caps to the very bottom of the ocean, and thus impacts every human. The report states that 30% of the world’s reefs have been stressed to near breaking point, and that 60% of the world’s reefs are heavily threatened. However, if we are unable to keep within 1.5 degrees of warming 70-90% of reefs could collapse, and exceeding the 1.5 degrees could cause more than 99% of reefs to collapse. This will impact communities dependant on, and those living in close proximity to coral reefs devastatingly.
The conclusions drawn in the report are based on thousands of scientific studies, over decades of research from scientists worldwide and focusing on how climate change has impacted oceans and ice.
The report can be downloaded here.
