Por que usar "were to" em vez de "would" nesta frase?

Olá, eu estava vendo um desenho e um persongaem falou a seguinte frase:

"If the Earth temperature were to rise by just one degree, average sea levels would rise, leading to a massive tragedy".

Então, eu não entendi o porquê de ele ter usado "were to rise" ao invés de "would rise". Se tirarmos o "were to" e colocarmos o "would" o sentido da frase muda?

Alguém poderia me explicar por favor
Desde já agradeço

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PPAULO 6 49 1.3k
The cartoon character uses good grammar, you betcha! Keep watching it.
If you find yourself debating whether to use “was” or “were” in a sentence, it’s likely that you’re dealing with an unreal conditional sentence. As a refresher, an unreal conditional sentence expresses events that are hypothetical or improbable.
Source: Grammarly

What goes in the mind of the character? A hypothetical event. That is, those cases where we are hypothesizing about a possible event in an unspecified future and its consequences. The pattern is If + simple past, Would + infinitive

So:
If the Earth temperature were to rise by just one degree, average sea levels would rise, leading to a massive tragedy.

Sometimes cartoons and comic strips can teach us some grammar points indeed!