eli5 as to how changes in global temperature that are 1.5° affect it so much?

Question

I’m not denying that it’s bad, I know it’s bad and a horrible thing, but I wanna know how changes that are only 1.5° affect it so much and matter so much.

In: 1

Answer 1

Essentially, a lot of the systems that we as humans rely on are pretty delicate. The extra warming is concentrated at the poles, leading to the ice caps melting, raising sea level, inundating coastlines. The extra energy also gives storms more energy, making them stronger and more frequent. The melting ice caps dump fresh water into the ocean, disrupting ocean currents, and changing the temperature in some places by 10 degrees or more.