Thread by @WIRED

The latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has dropped, and it paints a bleak picture of the consequences we’ll pay for killing our oceans.

Here are some takeaways 1/ wired.trib.al/lDoipN3

Global sea level rise is accelerating. Between 2006 and 2015, it rose about 3.6 millimeters a year, more than double what it was between 1901 and 1990. Compounding that problem? In 30 years, over a billion people are expected to live in those zones 2/ wired.trib.al/lDoipN3

In the next three decades, many low-lying megacities and islands could start seeing what used to be once-in-a-century extreme sea level events—life-threatening storm surges, for example—every. Single. Year. 3/ wired.trib.al/lDoipN3

The ocean is also warming. The number of marine heat waves has doubled over the last four decades, driving ecological chaos. Hot water holds less oxygen, and fish populations are dropping in many regions. Those shifts post a major threat to fish stock 4/ wired.trib.al/lDoipN3

Then there’s snow. Snow cover has declined in nearly all mountain regions. Less snow melt threatens drinking water supplies and irrigation for crops, and can shrink hydroelectric dams’ output 5/ wired.trib.al/lDoipN3

Permafrost, too, is a looming crisis. Arctic and boreal permafrost hold almost twice the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Permafrost temps have risen to record-high levels, and if it melts, that’ll kick off a feedback loop that drives more warming 6/ wired.trib.al/lDoipN3

Ultimately, the report shows climate change is ocean change. If we don’t fix it, our forewarned catastrophe will unfold.

Read more here: 7/ wired.trib.al/lDoipN3