As the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) meets in Poland it is instructive to review the carbon emissions targets proposed in the Paris agreement of 2015. A global temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius represents the threshold to avoid extreme heat and weather events, sustained damage to planet ecosystems, and to avert a run-away condition caused by methane released when polar permafrost melts.
The report found that holding warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius could save
an Alaska-size area of the Arctic from permafrost thaw, muting a
feedback loop that could lead to still more global emissions.
We have a decade to meet the 1.5 degree target:
- Increase renewable energy production from presently 24% to 60%
- Retrofit operating coal plants with Carbon Capture Systems CCS
- By 2050 most coal plants must shut down
- Transportation sector must strongly electrify
- 4% of transportation is electric, a 1% increase by 2022 is projected.
- To meet 1.5 C Emissions rather than fuel must be the coal industry focus.
To meet the 1.5C scenario, the transportation sector must electrify and carbon capture CCS is essential - Washington Post. Some institutions have taken note of the goal, universities religious institutions and some cities have divested their pension funds from big oil - The Guardian.
2/10/19 UPDATE: It’s official: Last year was the fourth-hottest year on record, after only the previous three, according to separate figures released Wednesday morning by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA. Read billion-dollar weather and climate related disasters there.
2/10/19 UPDATE: It’s official: Last year was the fourth-hottest year on record, after only the previous three, according to separate figures released Wednesday morning by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA. Read billion-dollar weather and climate related disasters there.
-LS
