Three Key Takeaways From the IPCC Report on 1.5 Degrees of Warming

This issue is the priority above all others and also connected with all others. Radical change MUST happen now. — Molly

New research suggests temperature and sea level rise could be far worse than climate models predict.

There is no time to lose in rapidly reducing emissions

by

Kelly Trout

Since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its new, must-read report on the urgency of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, we at Oil Change International have been receiving some common questions: What are the implications for our analysis of what the Paris accord’s goals mean for fossil fuel production? What about the IPCC’s use of larger carbon budgets, compared to its last major report? What, if any, new conclusions do we draw?

The quick summary is this: It’s clear that the IPCC’s 1.5-degree report clarifies and adds urgency to our call for a managed decline of fossil fuel production. Winding down the largest source of carbon emissions—the oil, gas, and coal extracted by the fossil fuel industry—will be essential to achieving deep cuts in carbon emissions within the next decade, as the report warns is necessary. In this post, I’ll unpack three key takeaways:

1. We need to aim to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, not just “well below 2 degrees.”
2. There is no room for new fossil fuels in a 1.5-degree world, even with a larger range of estimated carbon budgets.
3. There is no time to lose in rapidly reducing emissions.

(Questions such as, Is there hope? (yes), and, Is this possible? (yes), are also critical parts of the discussion right now. I focus here the technical aspects related to our analysis.)

First, a bit of background: We at Oil Change International (OCI) first analyzed the limits that the Paris goals imply for fossil fuel production in 2016, and the results were sobering. In our report, The Sky’s Limit: Why the Paris Goals Require a Managed Decline of Fossil Fuel Production, we found that the oil, gas, and coal in existing fields and mines globally contain enough potential carbon emissions to push the world beyond the Paris climate goals.

Please continue this article here: https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/10/20/three-key-takeaways-ipcc-report-15-degrees-warming