It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean and cryosphere have occurred. The global surface temperature was 1.48°C higher in 2023 than 1850–1900. This has led to widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people. The scale of recent changes across the climate system as a whole – and the present state of many aspects of the climate system – are unprecedented over many centuries to many thousands of years. Human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe. Evidence of observed changes in extremes such as heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts, and, in particular, their attribution to human influence, has strengthened over the years. Each of the last four decades has been warmer than any previous decade since 1850. For every half degree increase in global warming, there will be increases in extreme temperatures, in intensity of heavy rainfall and severe drought.
With further global warming, every region is projected to increasingly experience concurrent and multiple changes due to climatic impacts. Changes in several climatic impacts would be more widespread at 2°C compared to 1.5°C global warming and even more widespread and/or pronounced for higher warming levels.
Sebastian Mernild will give you an approach to the climate changes we have seen over time, but also what we can expect to see in the coming decades.

Bio:
Dr. Scient. Sebastian H. Mernild (Ph.D. & Dr. Scient) is Head of SDU Climate Cluster and a Professor in Climate Change and Glaciology. Mernild has been an IPCC Author from 2009-2023 and 2028-2023.

Mernild worked in the US for seven years at the International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks (2006-2009), and at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico (2009-2013), and three years as senior research scientist/research leader at Centro de Estudios Científicos (CECs) in Valdivia, Chile (2013-2016). Further, he worked in Norway from 2016-2020 as full professor in Climate Change and Glaciology, and as Director of the Nansen Center (NERSC) in Bergen. After 15 years abroad he returned to Denmark in 2020.

Sebastian H. Mernild

Keynote: Climate changes - facts and call for action

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Sebastian H. Mernild (Keynote)