World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

Climate Central has constructed an interactive map that describes the earth if climate change processes are left completely unchecked.  Without any reduction of greenhouse gases, the global temperature will rise by about 4 degrees Celsius.  The implications are stark:

• China, the world’s leading carbon emitter, leads the world, too, in coastal risk, with 145 million people living on land ultimately threatened by rising seas if emission levels are not reduced.
• China has the most to gain from limiting warming to ​2°C, which would cut the total to 64 million.
• Twelve other nations each have more than 10 million people living on land at risk, led by India, Bangladesh, Viet Nam, Indonesia, and Japan.
• The U.S. is the most threatened nation outside of Asia, with roughly 25 million people on implicated land.
• Meeting the 2°C​ goal would cut exposure by more than half in the U.S., China, and India, the world’s top three carbon emitters, as well as in many other nations.
• ​Global megacities with the top-10 largest threatened populations include Shanghai, Hong Kong, Calcutta, Mumbai, Dhaka, Jakarta, and Hanoi.