14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new report released by researchers working with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC, a company specializing in accountancy), it is quite possible that, by the end of this century, global average temperatures will up by as much as 6°C.
Up until now, several specialists have stated loud and clear that, all things considered, average temperatures worldwide would only increase by 2°C.
Even so, environmental scientists have warned that this 2°C increase in world temperatures would lead to significant shifts in terms of weather conditions worldwide.
Naturally, these news estimates made public by PwC foster new concerns with respect to the effects of climate change on human communities and natural ecosystems.
Jonathan Grant, the PwC director for sustainability and climate change, wished to emphasize the fact that, “The new reality is a much more challenging future in terms of planning, financing and predictability.”
“Even doubling our current annual rates of decarbonization globally every year to 2050, would still lead to 6°C, making governments' ambitions to limit warming to 2°C appear highly unrealistic,” he went on to explain.
According to this report, the increase in global average temperatures could be limited to just 2°C, if economies worldwide agree to push for a decarbonization rate of at least 5.1 percent yearly.
As well as this, this decarbonization rate would have to be in place for 39 years to come.
“The challenge now is to implement gigatonne scale reductions across the economy, in power generation, energy efficiency, transport and industry, as well as REDD+ in forested nations,” Jonathan Grant believes.
Apparently, cutting down on the world's oil and coal consumption by 10% and turning toward gas to fill in the energy voids could potentially translate into emission savings of about 3% per year.
However, all long-term solutions must necessarily take into consideration renewable energy sources and other low-carbon power sources.