Slashing emissions of carbon dioxide by itself isn’t enough to prevent catastrophic global warming, a new study shows. But if we simultaneously also reduce emissions of methane and other often overlooked climate pollutants, we could cut the rate of global warming in half by 2050 and give the world a fighting chance.
The study, appearing the week of May 23 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to assess the comparative impacts, through 2050, of cutting emissions of a broad range of climate pollutants versus targeting only carbon dioxide.
“Decarbonization is crucial to meeting our long-term climate goals, but it’s not enough,” said study co-author Drew Shindell, Nicholas Distinguished Professor of Earth Science at Duke University. “To slow warming in the near-term and reduce suffering from the ever-increasing heatwaves, droughts, superstorms and fires, we need to also reduce short-lived climate pollutants this decade.”
The new research shows that focusing our efforts almost exclusively on cutting carbon dioxide emissions, as most governments currently do, can no longer prevent global temperatures from rising above pre-industrial levels by 1.5 degrees centigrade. Such a rise would substantially increase the risks of tipping points at which irreversible impacts will occur. Cutting carbon alone may not be enough to even prevent temperatures from rising by 2°C, the study concludes.
Read more at: Duke University
Simultaneously curbing emissions of low-level ozone and other short-lived climate pollutants as well as long-lived carbon dioxide could cut the rate of global warming in half by 2050, a new study shows. (Photo Credit: US EPA)