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New projections by the US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) show that mean global temperature could increase by as much as 5.2 degrees Celsius this century if "rapid and massive action" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is not taken, according to a press release. Previous studies have indicated an increase of 2.4 degrees Celsius.
Various studies have shown that a rise of 2 degrees Celsius in global temperatures would probably destroy 30 percent to 40 percent of all known species, generate bigger, fiercer and more frequent heat waves and droughts, more intense weather events like floods and cyclones, and would raise the sea level by at least a metre, displacing millions.
The new projections, published in the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate, indicate a 90 percent chance of the temperature increasing by between 3.5 degrees and 7.4 degrees Celsius during the next 100 years.
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