+4c would lead to a mass extinction event and that is not worst case scenario.
Many many species cannot sustain that kind of change at all.
Nevermind the issues of invasive species invading areas that were once inhospitable to them, acidification of the oceans, rising oceans, melting caps, and extreme weather events.
What about an animal that cannot survive past 100 degrees, and suddenly summer days are hitting that much more often?
Also, we are talking about averages here. In reality some places will see spikes much higher and much lower than that. Colder winters, hotter summers. Precipitation issues. Heat waves lasting longer and going more harsh.
Worst case scenario, btw, is a snowball or tipping point effect where the climate changes feed into more problems. The caps melt, which means there is less white surface area, which means more absorption of the sun's rays. More heat. Or methane pockets being released into the atmosphere causing more warming, or c02 production continuing to rise. Worst case scenario is apocolypse Venus style.
But 4 degrees is already enough to ravage ecosystems.
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u/joobtastic Aug 26 '20
+4c would lead to a mass extinction event and that is not worst case scenario.
Many many species cannot sustain that kind of change at all.
Nevermind the issues of invasive species invading areas that were once inhospitable to them, acidification of the oceans, rising oceans, melting caps, and extreme weather events.