WEBVTT

00:00:01.896 --> 00:00:05.216
Why is 1.5 degrees such a big deal?

00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:10.146
Because to warm our entire planet up
by 1.5 degrees Celsius

00:00:10.170 --> 00:00:12.478
requires a lot of heat.

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:12.502 --> 00:00:16.156
All this extra heat melts glaciers,
which raise sea levels.

00:00:16.180 --> 00:00:19.726
If the ice sheets of Antarctica
and Greenland melt completely,

00:00:19.750 --> 00:00:22.478
millions of people's homes
will be under water.

00:00:22.799 --> 00:00:25.176
The extra heat also intensifies weather,

00:00:25.200 --> 00:00:28.070
making wet places wetter, dry places drier

00:00:28.094 --> 00:00:30.616
and increasing the ferocity of storms.

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:34.716
That 1.5-degree increase
also won't be distributed evenly.

00:00:34.740 --> 00:00:38.296
The coldest nights in the Arctic
might get 10 degrees warmer.

00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:41.602
The warmest days in Mumbai
might get five degrees hotter.

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:41.626 --> 00:00:44.476
Over the past 10,000 years,
we've been lucky.

00:00:44.500 --> 00:00:48.236
Earth's climate was stable
and our civilizations flourished.

00:00:48.260 --> 00:00:53.696
But as our climate gets more unstable,
so will our economies and our societies.

00:00:53.720 --> 00:00:55.153
We'll all suffer,

00:00:55.177 --> 00:00:57.638
and the vulnerable will be hit hardest,

00:00:57.662 --> 00:00:59.415
unless we act now.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:02.363 --> 00:01:03.949
[Countdown

00:01:03.973 --> 00:01:06.753
Take action on climate change
at Countdown.ted.com]