Climate Change Analysis Confirms Fears
“The consensus in American politics today is that there’s nothing to be gained from talking about climate change…This cannot work. At least it cannot work if we hope to avoid terrible consequences.”
The article is a summary of the points made by scientists Kevin Anderson and Alice Bowers.
1. How much can global average temperature rise before we risk “dangerous” changes in climate? The current consensus answer is: 2 degrees C [3.6 degrees F] above pre-industrial levels.
2. For the purposes of limiting temperature rise to 2 degrees C, what matters is the total accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere — our “carbon budget.”
3. With a carbon budget, it’s possible to develop a carbon reduction pathway.
4. Any carbon reduction pathway that limits temperature rise to 2 degrees C shows global emissions peaking extremely soon and declining extremely quickly.
[he skips 5]
6. Jeez, 2 degrees C looks hard. Can we just do 4 degrees C [7.2 degrees F] instead?