NEWS

Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released recent report

WHAT IS IN THE REPORT

• Temperatures on Earth will shoot past a key danger point unless greenhouse gas emissions fall faster than countries have committed
• Revealed “a litany of broken climate promises” by governments and corporations, accusing them of stoking global warming by clinging to harmful fossil fuels
• Temperatures have already increased by over 1.1C (2F) since pre-industrial times, resulting in measurable increases in disasters such flash floods, prolonged droughts, more intense hurricanes and longer-burning wildfires, putting human lives in danger and costing governments hundreds of billions of dollars to confront
• Projected global emissions from (national pledges) place limiting global warming to 1.5C beyond reach and make it harder after 2030 to limit warming to 2C
• Ongoing investments in fossil fuel infrastructure and clearing large swaths of forest for agriculture undermine the massive curbs in emissions needed to meet the Paris goal

SOLUTIONS

• Removal of CO2 from the atmosphere with natural or artificial means
• Potentially risky technologies such as pumping aerosols into the sky to reflect sunlight
• Rapid shift away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy such as solar and wind
• Electrification of transport
• More efficient use of resources
• Massive financial support for poor countries unable to pay for such measures without help
• Plug methane leaks from mines, wells and landfills
• There’s still a “carbon budget” of 500 billion metric tons (550 billion US tons) that can be emitted before hitting the 1.5C threshold