Vital messages in latest climate study

Welcome to 2100. The forecast for Singapore is blisteringly hot days, steamy nights, drenching rains and seas that seem intent on swallowing the island. This, sadly, could be our future according to the

latest national climate study released by the Government on Jan 5.

The study involved 20 agencies and powerful computer modelling that needed the national supercomputing centre to crunch the numbers. It gives the clearest picture yet of how climate change could make Singapore, and the region, a very challenging place to live. This is in addition to the impacts residents are already experiencing, such as hotter days and nights, more bursts of intense rain and rising sea levels.

And this is a key takeaway. Climate change is already affecting Singapore and the region. How severe the impacts become is really up to the Republic and the rest of the world. If humanity ramps up the fight against global warming by slashing greenhouse gas emissions from this decade, then things won’t be so bad. Keep on burning fossil fuels with abandon, and Singapore, along with much of the tropical belt, becomes almost unliveable, the latest projections show. The daily average temperature in Singapore could

rise by up to 5 deg C by 2100

– from 27.9 deg C now to 32.9 deg C. The average daily maximum temperature could reach 36.7 deg C, up from 31.4 deg C now if global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise drastically, raising the risks from being outdoors. And mean sea levels could increase by just over 1m by 2100 and up to about 2m by 2150 under the high emissions scenario. National water agency PUB is developing an “adaptive approach” to protect Singapore against sea level rise of up to 2m. But sea levels could rise well beyond this after 2150 if icecaps keep melting faster.