What a difference one degree makes

ICE & GLACIERS:

2°:

• 60% loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic
• Complete and irreversible melting of the Greenland ice with 1.5°C warming
• 25% or more decrease of the Antarctic sea-ice volume and continued retreating sea ice for about 2 degrees of latitude

3°:

• Near complete loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic
• Complete loss of the Greenland ice sheet and the Antarctic ice shelves with a 3°C warming over several centuries

ECOSYSTEMS:

2°:

• 95% loss of most coral by mid-century, with adverse impacts on subsistence and commercial fishing, coastal protection and global economics (the economic cost of losing Australia’s Great Barrier Reef alone is estimated to be AU$4.3 billion per year, with reefs worldwide expected to see similar effects)
• 43% risk of global forest changing to non-forest systems, plus expansion of forests into the Arctic and semiarid savannas
• Risk of permanent shift of terrestrial carbon sinks to carbon sources in key tropical areas such as the Amazon, plus Arctic areas that are permafrost dominated
• Substantial damage and disruption to Arctic and montane ecosystems: a major proportion of the tundra and about half of boreal forest area may disappear
• 80% loss of South African Karoo, 50% loss of Kakadu (Australia) and the Sundarbans (Bangladesh) wetlands
• 25% of current species wiped out

3°:

• Remaining coral, which suffers annual bleaching, has little hope of recovery
• 88% risk of change in global forest to non-forest systems; risks of forest losses in parts of Eurasia, Amazonia and Canada; potential loss of forests in parts of the southern boreal zone, eastern China, Central America, Amazonia and the Gulf Coast of the US
• Much higher risk of permanent shift of terrestrial carbon sinks to carbon sources and irreversible damage to the Amazon forest leading to its collapse
• 50% loss of wetlands in the Mediterranean, Baltic, and several migratory bird habitats in the US
• Massive loss and potential extinction of ice-dependent species, including polar bears and many species in Mexico and South Africa
• 33% of current species become extinct

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