From the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change via NYT: Major Climate Report Describes a Strong Risk of Crisis as Early as 2040.
This report is the first commissioned by world leaders under the Paris agreement, and it’s not great to say the least.
The authors found that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, the atmosphere will warm up by as much as 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) above preindustrial levels by 2040, inundating coastlines and intensifying droughts and poverty. Previous work had focused on estimating the damage if average temperatures were to rise by a larger number, 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius), because that was the threshold scientists previously considered for the most severe effects of climate change.
The report was written and edited by 91 scientists from 40 countries who analyzed more than 6,000 scientific studies. The Paris agreement set out to prevent warming of more than 3.6 degrees above preindustrial levels — long considered a threshold for the most severe social and economic damage from climate change.
It’s hard to be hopeful in these times, but we need to fight for our future. The baby boomers who are currently in power will not have to deal with the consequences of their decisions 22 years from now.
We will. Don’t forget that.