Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-13 (section)

=== 13.1.3 Impact Assessment of Climate Change Based on Previous Reports ===

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The main findings of previous reports, particularly the WGII AR5 ( [[#Kovats--2014|Kovats et al., 2014]] ) and the IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C ( [[#Hoegh-Guldberg--2018|Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2018]] ), highlighted the impacts of warming and rainfall variations and their extremes on Europe, particularly SEU and mountainous areas. At 2°C GWL, 9% of Europe’s population was projected to be exposed to aggravated water scarcity, and 8% of the territory of Europe were characterised to have a high or very high sensitivity to desertification ( [[#UNEP/UNECE--2016|UNEP/UNECE, 2016]] ). These impacts are driven by changes in temperature, precipitation, irrigation developments, population growth, agricultural policies and markets ( [[#EEA--2017a|EEA, 2017a]] ). Heat is a main hazard for high-latitude ecosystems ( [[#Kovats--2014|Kovats et al., 2014]] ; [[#Jacob--2018|Jacob et al., 2018]] ; [[#Hock--2019|Hock et al., 2019]] ). The majority of mountain glaciers lost mass during the past two decades, and permafrost in the European Alps and Scandinavia is decreasing ( [[#Hock--2019|Hock et al., 2019]] ). In Central Europe, Scandinavia and Caucasus, mountain glaciers were projected to lose 60–80% of their mass by the end of the 21st century ( [[#Hock--2019|Hock et al., 2019]] ). The combined impacts on tourism, agriculture, forestry, energy, health and infrastructure were suggested to make SEU highly vulnerable and increase the risks of failures and vulnerability for urban areas ( [[#Kovats--2014|Kovats et al., 2014]] ). Previous reports stated that the adaptive capacity in Europe is high compared with other regions of the world, but that there are also limits to adaptation from physical, social, economic and technological factors. Evidence suggested that staying within 1.5°C GWL would strongly increase Europe’s ability to adapt to climate change ( [[#de%20Coninck--2018|de Coninck et al., 2018]] ).

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