Infographic: Rising Temperatures, Rising Risks
People are 15 times more likely to die from extreme weather today than in years past as climate change continues to affect severe weather patterns, according to the second report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. If the current trajectory remains unchanged, 1 billion people will face coastal flooding from rising seas by 2050, and some small island nations could become uninhabitable.
Risks by Degree
With every one-tenth of a degree of additional warming beyond pre-industrial levels, threats to people, species, and ecosystems rise. Even if global warming is halted at 1.5 degrees Celsius—the target outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement—the ramifications remain tangible.
| 1.5C° | 2C° | 3C° | |
| Drought: Population exposed to water stress or heat stress |
.95 billion | 1.15 billion | 1.29 billion |
| Food: Costs for adaptation and residual damage to major crops |
$63 billion | $80 billion | $128 billion |
| Fire: Increases in burnt area across Mediterranean Europe alone | 40-54% | 62-87% | 96-187% |
| Sea Level: Global mean sea level rise by 2100 | 0.28-0.55 meters | 0.33-0.61 meters | 0.44-0.76 meters |
| Floods: Increase in the global population exposed to flooding | 24% | 30% | data unavailable |
Risk Adaptation
Avoiding the effects of climate change is no longer possible. Many feasible adaptations are already available—they just require funding and implementation. Social protection programs (including public works programs), ecosystem-based adaptations (increasing crop diversity), and new technologies and infrastructure are all proven solutions that could be implemented today.
The report strongly recommends that policymakers double climate adaptation financing by 2025.
2018 estimate of climate adaptation financing
Needed for developing countries by 2050
Risk Hotspots
In 2022, 3.3 to 3.6 billion people live in regions highly vulnerable to climate impacts. Hotspots are concentrated in:
 The Arctic |
Central America |
South America |
| South Asia |
Sub-Saharan Africa |
Small Island Nations |
