National Geographic's 'Six Degrees Could Change The World' | Grist

I haven’t read the book — who has time? Oh, but TV or a YouTube video — well, that’s another matter:

This Sunday, February 10th at 8pm EST on the National Geographic Channel, “Six Degrees Could Change The World,” which offers a hypothetical look at how the world might change, degree by degree, if we don’t curtail our emissions:

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At One Degree, the world will experience a new American desert, massive coral bleaching, and lost Australian rainforests.

At Two Degrees, oceanic acidity will rise drastically, India will begin to face extreme Monsoon seasons, and water shortages will spell trouble in China and South America.

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At Three Degrees, the Arctic will face 80% ice loss, New York City suffers from flooding, and Southern California will be constantly at risk for fires.

[Actually, the Arctic is already toast unless we reduce temperatures from current levels. And what the heck does he think has been going on in Southern California in recent years already. As for NYC flooding, that is of a much longer timescale than the other two, so it is confusing to lump them together.]

At Four Degrees, Asia will suffer from melting permafrost and Florida residents will become climate refugees.

[Asia already is.]

At Five Degrees, the desert dry belt in Africa will expand drastically, and human colonies will begin to pioneer Antarctica.

[The first one has started, and will go drastic at two or three degrees. As for pioneering Antarctica, that is a long, long, long time from now.]

At Six Degrees, the carbon cycle will explode and the human race will be struggling for survival.

[Since he’s talking six degrees Centigrade, I’m afraid the carbon cycle will have long since exploded, maybe at half that temperature.]

OK, so he’s an optimist, sort of. Well, relatively speaking. Anyway, the graphics should be cool, and you can click the links below to view the 30-second tune-in spot, as well as three news segments produced by “CNC News,” a fictitious news source covering these events 25-75 years in the future.