14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new analysis, it would appear that the world will exceed the maximum amount of greenhouse gas emissions that can be put into the atmosphere without causing disastrous climate change by more than a third by 2020.
At this point, the international scientific community has pout forth some fairly clear-cut figures, showing that global warming must not exceed two degrees Celsius by 2050.
Warming beyond that level would trigger irreversible global warming and climate change, and would bring about a host of disastrous side-effects for which the world is not ready.
The new report, released by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), shows that, if we continue on the current path for GHG emissions, we will exceed that limit by more than 30 percent until 2020.
These conclusions again draw attention to the fact that urgent measures are needed to repair the situation, and also to the need for countries to agree on this issue.
Current policy settings are totally insufficient to allow for any visible improvements, analysts in the field say. The situation will only get worse over the coming years.
Scientists have already said on numerous occasions that the maximum GHG budget for 2020 is 40 gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere.
But it would now appear that the world will produce between 47.9 and 53.6 gigatons of the stuff by that same period, shows the WWF report, called “Plugging The Gap.”
And the bad news is that the new figures are based on recent promises of cuts made by industrialized countries. These nations are not exactly known for staying true to their word.
“It’s clear that some countries are facing up to the necessary transformations of their economies but other countries have failed to endorse this new trend speedily and are risking the safety and prosperity of all,” explains Gordon Shepherd.
“The climate talks in need to see at least some indications of this trend changing,” adds the expert, who is the leader of the WWF Global Climate Initiative.
“Every school kid could calculate that if we let annual emissions grow to 50 gigatons and more we will soon have badly overspent our fixed budget,” Shepherd reveals.
“We must decrease annual emissions year after year and share the remaining budget equitably between industrialized countries that already used much of it and developing countries that had no such opportunity,” he argues.