Scientists say a 1.5°C increase should be new climate goal
- 6 years ago
WORLD — Climate scientists are saying that limiting a global temperature rise to a 1.5-degree Celsius increase should be a new target goal.
This comes after decades of scientists saying global temperatures must be kept below 2 degrees Celsius to avoid catastrophic impacts.
According to the BBC, scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, or IPCC, and government officials are meeting in Incheon to see what needs to be done in order to meet the new target.
Part of the reason for the change is that small island and low-lying countries were worried that a 2-degree Celsius increase would still lead to their territories being inundated by rising sea levels.
Leaked drafts from the IPCC meeting show that a 1.5-degree Celsius increase would have some major differences than a 2.0C increase.
Some main points are that 10 million fewer people would lose their homes from rising sea levels. Two million square kilometers of permafrost is saved over centuries.
There would be a 50 percent reduction in people across the world experiencing water scarcity.
The Arctic would only experience one sea-ice free summers in a century, and there would be a 50 percent reduction in species losing half their geographic range.
Unfortunately, according to the leaked drafts, the world has already warmed by about one degree and at the current pace, the 1.5C limit would be surpassed by 2040.
This comes after decades of scientists saying global temperatures must be kept below 2 degrees Celsius to avoid catastrophic impacts.
According to the BBC, scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, or IPCC, and government officials are meeting in Incheon to see what needs to be done in order to meet the new target.
Part of the reason for the change is that small island and low-lying countries were worried that a 2-degree Celsius increase would still lead to their territories being inundated by rising sea levels.
Leaked drafts from the IPCC meeting show that a 1.5-degree Celsius increase would have some major differences than a 2.0C increase.
Some main points are that 10 million fewer people would lose their homes from rising sea levels. Two million square kilometers of permafrost is saved over centuries.
There would be a 50 percent reduction in people across the world experiencing water scarcity.
The Arctic would only experience one sea-ice free summers in a century, and there would be a 50 percent reduction in species losing half their geographic range.
Unfortunately, according to the leaked drafts, the world has already warmed by about one degree and at the current pace, the 1.5C limit would be surpassed by 2040.