<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/09/world-is-on-verge-of-climate-abyss-un-warns>
"The world is on the verge of a climate abyss, the UN has warned, in response
to a
Guardian survey that found that hundreds of the world’s foremost climate
experts expect global heating to soar past the international target of 1.5C.
A series of leading climate figures have reacted to the findings, saying the
deep despair voiced by the scientists must be a renewed wake-up call for urgent
and radical action to stop burning fossil fuels and save millions of lives and
livelihoods. Some said the 1.5C target was hanging by a thread, but it was not
yet inevitable that it would be passed, if an extraordinary change in the pace
of climate action could be achieved.
The
Guardian got the views of almost 400 senior authors of reports by the
authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Almost 80% expected a
rise of at least 2.5C above preindustrial levels, a catastrophic level of
heating, while only 6% thought it would stay within the 1.5C limit. Many
expressed their personal anguish at the lack of climate action.
“The goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C is hanging by a thread,” said the
official spokesperson for António Guterres, the UN secretary general. “The
battle to keep 1.5C alive will be won or lost in the 2020s – under the watch of
political and industry leaders today. They need to realise we are on the verge
of the abyss. The science is clear and so are the world’s scientists: the
stakes for all humanity could not be higher.”
Alok Sharma, the president of the Cop26 climate summit in 2021, said: “The
results of the
Guardian’s survey should be another wake-up call for
governments to stop prevaricating and inject much more urgency into delivering
on the climate commitments they have already made.” He said world leaders
needed to get on and deliver on the pledge they made to transition away from
fossil fuels at Cop28 in December."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
