Climate change facts and figures

1. Since 1980 the earth has experience 19 of its 20 hottest years on record with 2002 the second hottest ever and 1998 the hottest. (IPCC)
2. One industry very directly affected by the risks of climate change is the insurance industry. The number of major natural disasters has trebled since the 1960s, and insured losses have increased fifteen fold in real terms (adjusted for inflation). According to one study, 35–40 percent of the worst catastrophes have been climate change related. In 2004 Swiss Re, the world's second largest reinsurance company, warned that the economic costs of climate-related disasters threatened to reach US$ 150 billion a year within ten years while a 2005 report from the Association of British Insurers, says that limiting carbon emissions could avoid 80 percent of the projected additional annual cost of tropical cyclones by the 2080s. (Environmental Resources Management (ERM)
3. In the 1990s a variety of estimates placed the number of environmental refugees – who are not included in the official definition of refugees, which only includes those fleeing persecution – at around 25 million. The IPCC estimates that there will be 150 million environmental refugees in the year 2050 (1.5 percent of 2050’s predicted 10 billion world population) due mainly to the effects of coastal flooding, shoreline erosion and agricultural disruption. (IPCC)
4. According to WHO 150,000 people currently die every year as a result of climate change.  A staggering 182 million people in sub-Saharan Africa alone could die of disease directly attributable to climate change by the end of the century. (WHO, Christian Aid)
5. If we were to allocate a year’s worth of sustainable resources to each country and the give a date for the point at which a country has used its own annual natural resources and needs those from another country, the UK's date would be April 16th. The date for the whole world is October 23rd. After the planet begins to eat into its own bio-capacity and life-sustaining environmental resources. If the whole world were to live at the model of material consumption set by the UK today, we would need the resources of 3.1 planets. (New Economics Foundation, UK)
6. Global sea level rose by an average 1.8mm per year over 1961 to 2003, with the fastest rates recored between 1993-2003. The total 20th Century rise is estimated to be 1.7mm. Since 60 percent of the world’s population lives within 65 miles of the coast many will be forced to relocate as sea levels rise. (IPCC AR4)
7. Observations since 1961 show that the average temperature of the global ocean has increased at depths of at least 3,000 meters and that the ocean has been absorbing 80 percent of the heat added to earth’s climate system. (IPCC AR4)
8. Carbon dioxide is responsible for over 60 per cent of the "enhanced greenhouse effect." Currently, atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are rising by over 10 per cent every 20 years. it is almost certain that atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide will double from pre-industrial levels during the 21st century. It is possible they will triple. (UNFCCC)
9. In Africa's large catchment basins of Niger, Lake Chad, and Senegal, total available water has decreased by 40 to 60 per cent, and desertification has been worsened by lower average annual rainfall, runoff, and soil moisture, especially in southern, northern, and western Africa (UNFCCC).
10. Climate model projections indicate that average global surface temperature will probably rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 C during the 21st century. (IPCC).