By Bob Berwyn
“The Paris climate agreement will likely be triggered into force within the next few weeks, which marks the beginning — not the end — of an intense effort to try and cap global warming before the planet is overwhelmed by heatwaves, droughts and super storms.
“Governments and citizens need to rapidly ramp up efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, a group of scientists said this week, releasing a new report showing that the climate pledges made toward the Paris agreement won’t do the trick.
“The INDC’s are totally inadequate to meet the 2-degree Celsius goal,” said British scientist Sir Robert Watson, a former chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “Governments must double and redouble their pledges,” he said, adding that it’s almost certain that the average global temperature will surpass the aspirational 1.5 degree goal as soon as 2030.
“Under the Paris deal, more than 190 countries agreed to try and limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level. Above that, climate change impacts could spiral out of control. And unless greenhouse gas emissions are cut immediately and in a big way, it’s likely the world will pass that 2 degree Celsius threshold as soon as 2050, Watson said.
“The report was prepared on behalf the Universal Ecological Fund, an Argentine-based NGO and was co-authored by scientists from Austria, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, the United Kingdom and the U.S.
“During a Sept. 29 teleconference, several of the authors said they released the concise document to give the public more information about climate change, making it clear that the Paris agreement is not enough to prevent catastrophic climate change, and spelling out what must be done in addition to the targets set under the deal.
“Even with all the support in the world, the pledges are not enough. We felt it was appropriate now to point out that we expect more of governments,” Watson said. “it’s important that the average citizen hears about this. It’s necessary to understand the science, and to understand what citizens need to do to make the Paris agreement work. Getting to the 2 degrees target takes action now, not in 15 years. There’s no time to lose.” Source: Report offers cold, hard truth about global warming – Summit County Citizens Voice