TheCable

The complexities of climate change and its associated jargon can make it difficult to digest. TheCable’s quick climate facts will help demystify these concepts through easy-to-understand and straightforward explanations.

Here are some to keep at the tip of your fingers:

• Modern industrial activities have raised atmospheric carbon dioxide levels by nearly 50 percent since 1750, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
• NASA said the warmest extreme temperatures will be in central and eastern North America, central and southern Europe, the Mediterranean – including southern Europe, northern Africa and the near-East, as well as western and central Asia and southern Africa.
• According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), emissions of greenhouse gases warm the climate while emissions of pollution particles – aerosols, which have a cooling effect, partly mask this warming.
• Over 90 percent of east African coral reefs are projected to be destroyed by bleaching at 2°C, according to IPCC.
• The United Nations says only 38 percent of small firms worldwide have invested in adapting to environmental risks, compared to 60 percent of large firms.