Leading scientists worldwide delivered a striking dose of reality to the United Nations on Sunday: it’s “becoming inevitable” that countries will miss the ambitious target they set eight years ago for limiting the warming of the Earth.
The ominous estimate points to the growing likelihood that global warming will shoot past 1.5 degrees Celsius before the end of this century, inflicting what scientists describe as an overwhelming toll from intensifying storms, drought and heat on people and the economy. It also injects an urgent message into global climate talks in Dubai, where the debate over ramping down fossil fuels is set to flare over the next two weeks.
Surpassing the temperature threshold — even temporarily — would be a major blow to the international Paris climate agreement from 2015, which called for nations to keep global temperatures well within 2 degrees Celsius of their preindustrial levels, and within 1.5 degrees if at all possible. The findings come amid climate talks that for the first time are focused on taking stock of whether almost 200 nations are meeting that goal. Early indications offer a bleak picture.
Tell me why this will not end in a massacre? The Western nations are already electing fascist leaders with a minor refugee crisis. When the situation worsens, borders will be closed, people will be shot or otherwise “taken care of”. I wish it weren’t so, but with our history and current trajectory, why is it not going to end like that?
The “better-off nations” are about to face wave after wave of climate refugees that will make recent war refugee crises look like casual tourism. Y’all think they will be welcomed by food and shelter or barbed wire and watchtowers?
Exactly my point. And it’s not going to be easypeasy in the better off nations either. Just look at what a ship accident in the Suez canal did to European goods. What China’s covid problems did to global availability of goods. We had to worry about food problems because of the war in Ukraine. Our economy is global and fragile, because there are no redundancies.
The Western world will suffer as well, even if they close all borders and manage to keep people out of it. Why would the rest of the world produce for us if they have other problems to worry about?
There’s like 5 billions of people not living in Europe or in the good parts of China. I guess there’s going to be a lot of space in the currently frozen lands of Siberia
I think there’s a pretty good chance you’re right.
Devils advocate here, but wouldnt that be the best case scenario for the planet?
The planet doesn’t care. It doesn’t matter at which level the final temperature sits, the planet will keep on rotating around the sun.
The question is how WE want to live.