Bill McKibben wrote this article in mid July after the Rio conference.
Global Warming's Terrifying New Math
Here's my quick synopsis, by the numbers
2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees F)
Many nations have agreed to this 2 degree maximum temperature rise target. Many scientists belive the target should be 1 degree or less to prevent devastating climate changes. The rise that has occurred from all fossil fuel burning to date is 0.8 degrees. If we stopped burning carbon today, existing carbon would probably cause the rise to increase to 1.6 degrees.
565 Gigatons
This is how much CO2 could be added into the atmosphere to remain below the 2 degree target. Before we use this much, we must be transitioned to an all renewable energy system if we want to avoid catastrophic changes.
2795 Gigatons
This is how much CO2 would be produced by burning all of the fossil fuel reserves that have been identified, oil, oil shales, natural gas, and coal.
Global Warming's Terrifying New Math
Here's my quick synopsis, by the numbers
2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees F)
Many nations have agreed to this 2 degree maximum temperature rise target. Many scientists belive the target should be 1 degree or less to prevent devastating climate changes. The rise that has occurred from all fossil fuel burning to date is 0.8 degrees. If we stopped burning carbon today, existing carbon would probably cause the rise to increase to 1.6 degrees.
565 Gigatons
This is how much CO2 could be added into the atmosphere to remain below the 2 degree target. Before we use this much, we must be transitioned to an all renewable energy system if we want to avoid catastrophic changes.
2795 Gigatons
This is how much CO2 would be produced by burning all of the fossil fuel reserves that have been identified, oil, oil shales, natural gas, and coal.
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