The international goal to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius is officially on life support. A United Nations-backed panel of climate scientists warned in a new report released Monday that the world may be on track to warm by more than 3 degrees ¡ª twice the Paris Agreement target ¡ª in a change that would painfully remake societies and life on the planet.
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change comes after years of net-zero pledges by national governments, cities, businesses and investors, and it sounds a stark warning on the still-unchecked emissions of greenhouse gas emissions pushing to record levels. The focus of this report, the third released since August 2021, is on humanity¡¯s vast arsenal of technology, know-how and wealth that remain insufficiently deployed in efforts to ensure a livable climate in the future.
Time to limit warming is perilously short. Greenhouse gas pollution must peak ¡°at the latest before 2025¡± to keep targets alive, the IPCC scientists write. Based on national pledges made before last November¡¯s climate negotiations Glasgow, Scotland, emissions in 2030 ¡°would make it likely that warming will exceed 1.5 C during the 21st century,¡± the authors conclude. That puts the loss of the first goal of the Paris Agreement within the lifetimes of many people now alive.
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