Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Tuesday October 09 2018, @06:26PM   Printer-friendly
from the hot-stuff dept.

It's the final call, say scientists, the most extensive warning yet on the risks of rising global temperatures.

Their dramatic report on keeping that rise under 1.5 degrees C says the world is now completely off track, heading instead towards 3C.

Keeping to the preferred target of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels will mean "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society".

[...] After three years of research and a week of haggling between scientists and government officials at a meeting in South Korea, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued a special report on the impact of global warming of 1.5C.

The critical 33-page Summary for Policymakers certainly bears the hallmarks of difficult negotiations between climate researchers determined to stick to what their studies have shown and political representatives more concerned with economies and living standards.

Despite the inevitable compromises, there are some key messages that come through loud and clear.

"The first is that limiting warming to 1.5C brings a lot of benefits compared with limiting it to two degrees. It really reduces the impacts of climate change in very important ways," said Prof Jim Skea, who co-chairs the IPCC.

"The second is the unprecedented nature of the changes that are required if we are to limit warming to 1.5C - changes to energy systems, changes to the way we manage land, changes to the way we move around with transportation."

"Scientists might want to write in capital letters, 'ACT NOW, IDIOTS,' but they need to say that with facts and numbers," said Kaisa Kosonen, of Greenpeace, who was an observer at the negotiations. "And they have."

The researchers have used these facts and numbers to paint a picture of the world with a dangerous fever, caused by humans. We used to think if we could keep warming below two degrees this century, then the changes we would experience would be manageable.

Not any more. This new study says that going past 1.5C is dicing with the planet's liveability. And the 1.5C temperature "guard rail" could be exceeded in just 12 years, in 2030.

We can stay below it - but it will require urgent, large-scale changes from governments and individuals and we will have to invest a massive pile of cash every year, about 2.5% of global gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all goods and services produced, for two decades.

-- submitted from IRC


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @09:26PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @09:26PM (#746639)

    Ugh, you're spewing right-wing propaganda points.

    So basically stop trying to make a positive change for humanity because there may be a 5% chance that human society won't collapse under the current weight? Let's see, what would happen you want to know?

    Well for starters we would stop pumping poisonous directly into every community, we would create a more sustainable and distributed infrastructure, we would create new technologies, we would improve cities with better public transit, communities would have less auditory noise once people switch to electric vehicles, foreign policy could become a lot simpler.

    Oh, but some midwest coal miners and pipeline workers might be put out of a job. Guess we'd better ignore all the good things and focus on the status quo because you're just Not Sure. You have a promising future as Secretary of the Interior.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +2  
       Interesting=1, Informative=1, Total=2
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 10 2018, @12:19AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 10 2018, @12:19AM (#746719)

    Ugh, yikes!

  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Wednesday October 10 2018, @04:39AM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 10 2018, @04:39AM (#746814) Journal

    So basically stop trying to make a positive change for humanity because there may be a 5% chance that human society won't collapse under the current weight?

    It's more like 100%. After all, we'd have already collapsed, if that were a thing.

    Oh, but some midwest coal miners and pipeline workers might be put out of a job.

    And a few billion more people throughout the world might be starving. If we're going to have to pay lip service to your bogeymen, we'll pay lip service to mine.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 10 2018, @04:31PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 10 2018, @04:31PM (#747010)

      Societies have collapsed many times but yes the species has continued. Is that really your argument for not doing anything to prevent the collapse of the current civilization? You in a rush to go all Mad Max and cannibalize people?

      No one will die from starvation because qe start switxhing off oil, gas, and coal.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday October 11 2018, @01:31AM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 11 2018, @01:31AM (#747236) Journal

        Is that really your argument for not doing anything to prevent the collapse of the current civilization?

        My point is that the collapse is not happening. What we're doing right now is quite adequate.