Six Degrees...could change the world.

In 2008, National Geographic came out with a documentary called Six Degrees Could Change the World. This movie was meant to underline human effects on climate change, and how the world would differ if it were heated by one degree or six degrees. Each degree represents a radically different future.

ONE DEGREE

We are currently sitting at an increased global temperature of 0.8 degrees Celsius, so let's round it up to 1 degree. 40 years from right now, the Himalayas may be glacier-less. In 50 years, Greenland's ice sheet could be melting at an unstoppable pace. By 2100, we could lose the Amazon rain forest to an arid savanna. What have we done?

Let's take a look at some emerging evidence. At the present time, severe drought has affected dry regions such as Australia. Bush fires are getting harder and harder to contain. In the US, Americans eat, on average, 3 cheeseburgers a week. That works out to about 150 a year. The calculated carbon footprint of their consumption in the United States, considering methane production from cattle, works out to 200 million metric tonnes of CO2 a year. The entire world is pumping carbon emissions into the atmosphere at a surprising rate, heating up our planet and causing dire conditions.

Consequences at 1 Degree: The ice starts to melt in the Arctic and opens up the North-West passage for ships, flooding, hurricanes begin to hit the South Atlantic coast, and drought spreads across the Western US.

TWO DEGREES
The planet warming up by 2 degrees is characterized mainly by a large increase in CO2. This increase severely affects the world's coral reefs, which are home to millions of different aquatic species. Oceans are natural carbon sinks, and a large influx of carbon dioxide leads to acidic waters and to widespread coral bleaching events.

Consequences at 2 degrees: There’s such little ice that polar bears struggle to survive, insects migrate in strange new directions, a temperate climate moves north in the US, new forests take root in Canada’s melting tundra, some Pacific islands begin to disappear under rising ocean levels, and coastal cities fall victim to regular floods.

THREE DEGREES
At this point, there will be more drought. In 2003, a severe drought spread through Europe, killing close to 30,000 people. In 2005, The Amazon River ran bone-dry, followed by forest fires that destroyed one third of the Amazon forest.

Consequences at 3 degrees: The Arctic is ice-free all summer, the Amazon is drying up, snow caps on the Alps all but disappear, El Niño’s extreme weather patterns become the status quo, Europe suffers through intense summer heat, photosynthesis in plants and trees will break down, and the weather becomes the most violent humans have ever experienced (tragic events such as Hurricane Katrina may become the norm).

FOUR DEGREES

The hotter the temperature of the Earth gets, the harder it is to estimate its effects on the human population. Experts can give an example, though. New York City would be severely flooded. The subway system and electrical systems underground will be destroyed, and the city will be forced to be immobilized. Flooding could cause parts of the city to be 25 feet under water. Furthermore, the Himalayan glacier maybe be completely gone.

Consequences at 4 degrees: Oceans will rise and take over deltas (displacing 1 billion people), coastal regions could be flooded massively, Bangladesh will be washed away, Egypt inundated, Venice submerged, glaciers will disappear, Northern Canada becomes bountiful in agriculture, Scandinavia develops beaches, major rivers dry up, and megastorms can occur as often as every 5 years.

FIVE DEGREES

Heating to this degree suggests that people must always be mobile due to unpredictable weather patterns. Thankfully, it is likely that we never see this increase in our lifetime.

Consequences at 5 degrees: The number of climate refugees climbs to the hundreds of millions. Life on Earth becomes nightmarish and social systems break down (the poorest of the poor are left behind).

SIX DEGREES
Six degrees cooler was the reason for the last major glaciation period...imagine what 6 degrees hotter could do. A planet this hot has been associated with mass extinctions in the past. This could potentially suggest a total wipe-out.

Consequences at 6 degrees: Oceans are marine wastelands, deserts spread across continents, and natural disasters become common events.

So what can we do?

There are possibilities to get ourselves out of this situation. We can ensure proper insulation of our homes and appliances such as the freezer and fridge in order to avoid unnecessary energy loss. Next, we can kill "vampire loads" which are like the little red lights on your TV symbolizing that it is indeed off. Finally, we can move to renewable resources such as wind power and solar power which would decrease our dependency on harmful fossil fuels.

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All images were retrieved from Google.

Six Degrees Could Change the World. Bowman, R., Fields, E., & Mark, L. 2008. National Geographic.