Managing Climate Change May Still Be Possible—But Only If the World Undergoes a Staggering Transformation

By Renae Reints

October 4, 2018

The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is meeting in South Korea this week to discuss the finalization of a report on how the world could limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above pre-industrial levels.

This limit was set as the best-case scenario for reducing the risks of climate change in the Paris Agreement of 2015, but actually achieving this will require some drastic changes from nations around the world. The planet has already warmed by 1 degree Celsius, and greenhouse gas emissions that trap heat in the atmosphere remain at record highs.

To truly remain below the 1.5 degree threshold—reducing the possibilities of stronger storms, rising seas, and the impacts these effects have on both sensitive ecosystems and impoverished human communities—the world needs to do much more than what’s outlined in the Paris Agreement.

“The pledges countries made during the Paris climate accord don’t get us anywhere close to what we have to do,” Drew Shindell, a climate expert at Duke University and one of the authors of the IPCC report, told The Washington Post. “They haven’t really followed through with actions to reduce their emissions in any way commensurate with what they profess to be aiming for.”

According to Shindell, keeping warming below 1.5 degrees will require the world’s carbon dioxide emissions to drop by 40% within the next 12 years. And by 2050, nations should have zero net emissions. This means no more gas engines, no coal-fired power plants, and increased use of biofuels and renewable energies.

“These are huge, huge shifts,” Shindell told the Post. “This would really be an unprecedented rate and magnitude of change.”

Strategies to make these changes, and what they would mean for the planet’s future, are currently under debate by the IPCC, comprised of more than 130 world representatives and 50 scientists. A draft summary of their work was leaked to Climate Home News this summer, but they aim to officially release the final Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C on Monday.

in Uncategorized

Study: Most Fossil Fuels Must Be Left Untouched to Meet Climate Change Target

That means no drilling in the Arctic

Roger Milley—Getty Images

Roger Milley—Getty Images

Nations will need to leave much of their available coal, oil, and gas reserves unused in the ground if the world is to meet its goals for curbing climate change, new research from University College London shows.

A paper published in Nature this week finds that huge amounts of the fossil fuels in the Middle East, U.S., China, Russia and elsewhere — including 80% of coal reserves, as well as half of gas and one third of oil reserves — cannot be burned if the world is to keep global temperatures under an agreed-upon 2ºC rise safety limit, The Guardian reports. Earth is right now dangerously on track for 5ºC of warming.

The research could force countries seeking to capitalize on their expensive natural resources into an evaluation of priorities. The fossil fuels that would need to be left unburned include some 40% of the Middle East’s oil and about 60% of its gas, as well as all of Canada’s tar sands and all of the Arctic’s oil and gas.

[The Guardian]
in Uncategorized

Our Mission

The Sinclaire Foundation has focused on finding, funding, and creating programs and schools that generate meaningful results for families.  Since its founding, The Sinclaire Foundation has distributed more than $100 thousand in grants and initiatives to hundreds

in Uncategorized