The Washington Post: We May Have Less Time to Stop Global Warming Than We Thought

Despite warnings from numerous scientists over the course of several decades, many people remain uncertain about climate change and the human role. A team of scientists has revised the estimate of carbon dioxide emissions that can enter the atmosphere before the planet exceeds a 2-degree Celsius rise in temperatures. “Many analyses have taken the late 19th century as the starting point, but the new study in Nature Climate Change suggests significant human influence was afoot by at least 1750, and may have contributed as much as one-fifth of a degree Celsius of warming (0.36 degrees Fahrenheit) before the late 1800s,” reports Chris Mooney for the Washington Post. The study suggests that stabilizing the climate could be more challenging than once assumed. The researchers caution that the new carbon budget as estimated could eliminate any possibility of keeping the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius, a best-case scenario. Meeting goals to stem climate change depends on both climate events and collective human behavior. And as evidence piles up, nations should recognize that their records will be measured and judged. – YaleGlobal