New Report on Climate Change is Out

Today the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a new report on the importance of limiting global warming to 1.5ºC. Their assessment of the global climate situation acknowledges that doing this will require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.They state that on the other hand, limiting global warming to 1.5ºC compared to 2ºC would benefit the environment: 

For instance, by 2100, global sea level rise would be 10 cm lower with global warming of 1.5°C compared with 2°C. 

The likelihood of an Arctic Ocean free of sea ice in summer would be once per century with global warming of 1.5°C, compared with at least once per decade with 2°C. 

 Coral reefs would decline by 70-90 percent withglobal warming of 1.5°C, whereas virtually all (> 99 percent) would be lost with 2ºC.

This article in the New York Times outlines how a 1.5ºC rise in temperature is better than 2°C.

The effects of a 1.5ºC rise in temperature are scary enough and it's going to be a real challenge to keep to that. To prevent a 2.7ºC rise in temperature (which some people fear we're heading for) greenhouse pollution must be reduced by 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, and 100 percent by 2050.  By 2050, use of coal as an electricity source would have to drop from nearly 40 percent today to between 1 and 7 percent. Renewable energy such as wind and solar, which make up about 20 percent of the electricity mix today, would have to increase to as much as 67 percent. It's pretty urgent (as this article, also in the New York Times outlines). 

We of course need action on the national and international levels, but there are things we can all do as individuals such as flying less (I think its 20 years since I've been on a plane), driving less (we don't have a car, though we often rent a car when we go on holiday to remote parts of Scotland), having fewer children (we don't have children) and changing to an environmentally friendly energy company (we're in the process of changing our energy supplier and I'll report on that once the process is complete). Of course there are other things you can do which are good for the environment, but apparently recycling, reducing plastics etc are less effective at reducing the carbon emissions which are directly responsible for the rising temperatures. 

You can access the IPCC report here. 

Other articles to read: 

Stay Cool - keep the temperature down for nature Martin Harper (RSPB) 

Final Call to Save the World from Climate Catastrophe (BBC) 

We're Doomed, social scientist Mayer Hillman on the climate reality no one else will dare mention (Guardian newspaper)

While Economic Growth Continues, we'll never kick our fossil fuel habit George Monbiot (Guardian)

Browse the Guardian's articles on climate change and other environmental issues.