A 2°C Increase In World Temperature Would Severely Increase Droughts And Wildfires, New Study Says

In recent years, the world bore witness to the intense heat that the planet is under, with record-breaking droughts and wildfires afflicting developing and developed countries alike. According to a new study, an increase in the world’s temperature by 2°C would significantly increase the number and intensity of these events, compared to a 1.5°C.

The new study was conducted by University of East Anglia researchers, which indicates that more than a quarter of the planet would see an increase in dryness if the world’s temperature goes up by 2°C. The researchers published their paper in Nature magazine, arguing that keeping the increase to 1.5°C would significantly slow down this process.

“On the basis of the ensemble median ToEA [time of emergence for aridification] for each grid cell, aridification emerges over 32% (RCP4.5) and 24% (RCP8.5) of the total land surface before the ensemble median of global mean temperature change reaches 2 °C in each scenario. Moreover, ToEA is avoided in about two-thirds of the above regions if the maximum global warming level is limited to 1.5 °C,” the paper reads.

Aridity is basically how scientists measure the dryness of regions, which can have a significant effect on habitability, the ecosystem, and agriculture, among other things. As one of the authors of the study, Dr. Chang-Eui Park notes, an increase in aridity could have a devastating impact on food, water, and shelter, Phys.org reports.

"Aridification is a serious threat because it can critically impact areas such as agriculture, water quality, and biodiversity. It can also lead to more droughts and wildfires - similar to those seen raging across California,” Dr. Park said.

While it’s true that reducing the temperature increase would benefit some countries more than others, this is still a global threat. This especially concerning for countries that import most of their food and goods.