Reasons to act: averting the looming catastrophe

It’s crucial to understand that the climate crisis is not just one among several urgent issues. It’s an issue of utmost urgency and overriding priority.

To understand why this is the case, we have to fully appreciate the magnitude and severity of the situation. 

In this step, we’ll take a closer look at what’s at stake in the climate crisis – in other words: how bad can things get if we don’t take adequate action?  

Just be aware: confronting how bad things could get may feel a bit overwhelming at times, so it’s important to remember that this dire future is not inevitable. We can collectively choose a different, much brighter path and you can play an active role in making that happen. 

With that in mind, let’s face up to the facts.

Climate change is already wreaking havoc today

Here are just a few examples of the devastating climate disasters we’ve experienced in recent years.

• The record-breaking heatwaves of 2022 and 2023 saw temperatures climbing above 50°C in many places, with over a billion people affected and over 90,000 deaths in Europe alone (World Weather Attribution, 2024). 
• Canada’s 2023 wildfires set unprecedented records, where entire towns burnt down to ashes within hours (Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, 2023). 
• The current mega-drought in East Africa is pushing more than 23 million people into acute hunger. In 2004, a drought in the same region had killed over 250,000 people (World Weather Attribution, 2023). 

Unfortunately, this is only the beginning 

All of this is happening at ‘just’ 1.2 to 1.5°C of global warming – the amount by which human-caused emissions of heat-trapping gases have heated the planet since the beginning of the industrial revolution (WMO, 2025). But things will get much worse in the future if and so long as societies continue to emit CO₂ and other heat-trapping gases. How much hotter it gets, and how much worse the impacts become, depends on how much more we emit globally.

Alternative future emissions pathways and their impacts 

The graph below shows three different pathways of emissions of heat-trapping gases (also known as greenhouse gases, or GHGs) over time, and the level of global warming each future pathway would lead to.

Adapted from IPCC (2023).

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Limiting global warming to 1.5°C – the aspirational target of the Paris Agreement – or anything close to this level is only possible if we cut global emissions extremely rapidly, starting immediately. This would not prevent all harm but is thought to avoid the worst impacts and risks (IPCC, 2023).

Unfortunately, what countries are pledging to do doesn’t match up to these internationally agreed targets. It would reduce global emissions only slowly, leading to well over 2°C of warming. This would make the planet hotter than it’s ever been since the human species emerged, causing very severe impacts (IPCC, 2023).

But current policies and actions fall even shorter. They entail continued high emissions, causing almost 3°C of warming which is widely recognised to be catastrophic for human societies and non-human life on Earth (IPCC, 2023).

What makes these levels of global warming so catastrophic?

More warming makes climate extremes more severe and more frequent.

As global temperatures continue to rise, we will experience more frequent and more severe extreme weather events, from heatwaves and wildfires to droughts, storms and floods. Sea levels will rise, and more and more rivers will dry up (IPCC, 2021). 

From 2040 onwards, as many as 3.9 billion people (almost half the world population) could face major heatwaves each year (Quiggin et al., 2021; Arnell et al., 2019).

More warming makes regions of the world uninhabitable.

As temperatures and sea levels rise, places around the globe will increasingly become uninhabitable, either because they will be under water, or too hot to live in. In the next 30 years, between 140 million and 1.2 billion people might have to leave their homes (Rigaud et al., 2018; Institute for Economics & Peace, 2024). 

The graphic below shows that if we don’t change course many regions could experience deadly heat for more than 200 days per year (Mora et al., 2017).

Adapted from Mora et al. (2017).

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More warming can lead to food crises, water crises and conflict.

Rising temperatures, droughts, and melting glaciers can lead to major water shortages, and together with storms, flooding, and extreme rainfall also undermine global food production (IPCC, 2023; Tsegai et al., 2021).

All these impacts also amplify the risk of economic crises, land grabbing, violent conflict over scarce resources or state failure.

If you would like to learn more about the impacts of a changing climate from academics at the University of Leeds, select the relevant links in the See also section below.

From fear to action: What can we do?

When you think about the climate crisis and what’s at stake, it’s normal to feel a lot of emotions: sadness, fear, anger, guilt, even hopelessness. In fact, many people are experiencing what’s called ‘climate anxiety‘: a deep worry about the impacts of the climate crisis. These emotions don’t mean something’s wrong with you. They’re a sign that you care deeply about people and planet, and that’s healthy.  

Climate anxiety can certainly feel paralysing. But one of the best ways to tackle it is to take action, which is what this course is all about. There are also lots of resources out there to help you understand and manage these climate-related emotions – you can find a helpful list in the See also section below.

Have your say  

Before we investigate solutions and actions, take a moment to reflect and share about your inner world: 

• How do you feel when thinking of the harms and risks entailed in the climate crisis? 
• Does the term climate anxiety resonate with your own feelings and experiences?  

Talking about these feelings is important because it helps us to better understand them, accept them, and see that we are not alone in experiencing such feelings. Allowing ourselves to feel such feelings leaves us stronger and better prepared to contribute to tackling the issue.