A few more degrees could change the face of humanity

by Le Monde, July 2021

One, two, two and a half… only a few degrees more. But in concrete terms, should we be worried about these few extra degrees? What changes can global warming bring about?

To answer this question scientifically, discover the video published by Le Monde, which was created in collaboration with Rodolphe Meyer, doctor in environmental sciences and creator of the Youtube channel: Le Réveilleur. It presents some of the most problematic consequences of climate change, and gives you the keys to understand why it is a major challenge of the 21st century.

Global warming is mainly reflected in a gradual increase in the planet’s overall temperature. In the space of 40 years, the global temperature has already risen by one degree, with the continents warming much more than the oceans.

Despite the uneven distribution of this warming in time and space, all forecasts confirm that over the next century, the temperature of the planet will inexorably continue to rise by a few “small” degrees as our greenhouse gas emissions also continue to increase…

This rise in temperature is affecting the infrastructure in which we live as much as our activities, and its consequences are increasingly devastating. The agriculture that feeds us is particularly affected by increasingly frequent, severe and long heat waves. In 2003, heat waves led to 15,000 deaths in France, caused by an atmosphere that is too humid and saturated with water vapour, which prevents normal evaporation of human perspiration and cooling of our bodies…

But climate change is not just increasing temperatures. It also changes the water cycle. Increased precipitation in wet regions leads to more and more floods. Conversely, dry regions are affected by more and more droughts. Between melting glaciers, rising water levels and floods, the modification of the water cycle could have deadly consequences for humans, but also for all biodiversity.