New U.N. climate report offers ‘bleak’ emissions forecast
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/11/new-un-climate-report-offers-bleak-emissions-forecast
Source: By Nathaniel Gronewald, E&E News, Science Magazine.
Excerpt: Global emissions are expected to keep climbing despite promises from almost 200 nations to address climate change, propelling temperatures upward and threatening to shatter the threshold of 2°C that scientists say would invite dramatic changes to ecology and the economy. The 10th Emissions Gap Report [https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2019] by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), released today, warned that there's "no sign" greenhouse gases will hit their zenith anytime soon. It arrived a day after the World Meteorological Organization revealed record-high concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. "The summary findings are bleak," the UNEP report said. "Countries collectively failed to stop the growth in global [greenhouse gas] emissions, meaning that deeper and faster cuts are now required." The World Meteorological Organization, meanwhile, said average CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere rose to 407.8 parts per million in 2018, surpassing its estimate in 2017 of 405.5 ppm. UNEP's emissions gap survey, launched from Geneva, forecasts much higher greenhouse gas concentrations to come. In the report, UNEP applauds heightened public pressure on governments to address climate change, yet laments that it's not nearly enough. The world's emissions have been increasing by about 1.5% per year for the past decade, it notes. That would lead to temperature increases of nearly 4°C by 2100, "bringing wide-ranging and destructive climate impacts."....
Source: By Nathaniel Gronewald, E&E News, Science Magazine.
Excerpt: Global emissions are expected to keep climbing despite promises from almost 200 nations to address climate change, propelling temperatures upward and threatening to shatter the threshold of 2°C that scientists say would invite dramatic changes to ecology and the economy. The 10th Emissions Gap Report [https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2019] by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), released today, warned that there's "no sign" greenhouse gases will hit their zenith anytime soon. It arrived a day after the World Meteorological Organization revealed record-high concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. "The summary findings are bleak," the UNEP report said. "Countries collectively failed to stop the growth in global [greenhouse gas] emissions, meaning that deeper and faster cuts are now required." The World Meteorological Organization, meanwhile, said average CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere rose to 407.8 parts per million in 2018, surpassing its estimate in 2017 of 405.5 ppm. UNEP's emissions gap survey, launched from Geneva, forecasts much higher greenhouse gas concentrations to come. In the report, UNEP applauds heightened public pressure on governments to address climate change, yet laments that it's not nearly enough. The world's emissions have been increasing by about 1.5% per year for the past decade, it notes. That would lead to temperature increases of nearly 4°C by 2100, "bringing wide-ranging and destructive climate impacts."....