World 'will be 4 degrees C warmer by 2100'

The world will be four degrees C warmer by the end of the century, even if governments meet their current energy targets, according to new research.

A study from the World Bank Group has revealed that the planet is set to warm up by four degrees C if governments around the globe fail to tackle the problem more aggressively.

Its report, which is entitled Turn Down the Heat: Why a Four Degrees C Warmer World Must Be Avoided, warned that this temperature increase cannot be avoided with current greenhouse abatement schemes.

Emphasising how worrying the figures are, World Bank Group president Dr Jim Yong Kim, said: "It is my hope that this report shocks us into action. Even for those of us already committed to fighting climate change, I hope it causes us to work with much more urgency."

The expert noted that global mean warming is 0.8 degrees C above pre-industrial levels, oceans have warmed by 0.09 degrees C since the 1950s and are now rising at 3.2 cm per decade.

Furthermore, he also pointed out that an "exceptional number" of extreme heat waves occurred in the last decade, and a number of major food crop growing regions have been increasingly impacted upon by drought.

While governments pledged to improve emissions at climate conventions in Copenhagen and Cancun, if these targets were fully met the world would still be on a trajectory for a global mean warming of more than three degrees C by 2100.

Furthermore, even if these schemes were implemented fairly there is still a 20 per cent chance of exceeding four degrees C in 2100. 

The report warns: “A world in which warming reaches 4°C above pre-industrial levels would be one of unprecedented heat waves, severe drought, and major floods in many regions, with serious impacts on human systems, ecosystems, and associated services.”