“Next time you meet a climate denier tell them to take a trip to Venus”
Stephen Hawking
Based on the rising average temperature trend assessments over the last decades and according to scientists, becoming net carbon neutral by 2050 could lead to a rise in global average temperatures far beyond the Paris Agreement target of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (i.e. +0.4°C compared to today’s temperatures) in the long-term.
Scientists Warning Europe have issued an open letter to the UK Prime Minister on behalf of 20 World leading scientists and an additional open letter to the Italian and UK PMs, urging for a 2030 Net Zero target.
According to the Climate Reality Check 2020 climate disruption is accelerating (1.2°C now, 1.5°C before 2030, 2°C likely before 2050, with 5°C possible by 2100) and we need to mobilize for zero emissions at emergency speed: 2030 – not 2050 – is the crucial time frame.
Explore
- Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report “Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation & Vulnerability” (28 Feb. 2022): (i) IPCC Press Conference; (ii) Summary for Policymakers; (iii) Journal Article Climate change is hitting the planet faster than scientists originally thought, J. Tollefson, Nature (2022)
- Scientists Warning Europe Press conference at COP26 12 Nov. 2021: it was clearly stated that we should all set a 2030 net zero target not 2050!
- Scientists Warning Into Action paper Key Messages, Scientists Warning Europe (October 2021) – Full paper and Video Warnings to Action: Mobilising Humanity
- With “net zero 2050” and the 1.5°C in the same breath, Glasgow reeks of cognitive dissonance by D. Spratt, Climate Code Red
- Scientists Warning Europe letter to the Prime Ministers of of the UK and Italy on the approach to this vital COP26 climate conference (28 October 2021)
- World Energy Outlook 2021, IEA, Executive Summary (October 2021)
- Emissions Gap Report 2021, UNEP, Executive Summary “The heat is on” (October 2021)
- Analysis: Which countries are historically responsible for climate change?, Carbon Brief, (October 2021)
- Focus on methane: The Cheap and Easy Climate Fix That Can Cool the Planet Fast (Bloomberg Green, 2021); Curbing methane emissions: How five industries can counter a major climate threat (McKinsey, 2021)
- Forget plans to lower emissions by 2050 – this is deadly procrastination by Peter Kalmus, The Guardian (2021)
- Global Update: Climate target updates slow as science demands action, Climate Action Tracker (Sept. 2021)
- Call for Emergency Action to Limit Global Temperature Increases, Restore Biodiversity, and Protect Health, The New England Journal of Medicine, Massachusetts Medical Society (Sep 5, 2021)
- IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group I, The Physical Science Basis – Summary for Policymakers and Headline Statements (2021)
- “Net zero 2050” is a dangerous illusion, Breakthrough Briefing Note, David Spratt & Ian Dunlop (August 2021)
- Thousands of scientists warn climate tipping points ‘imminent’, Aljazeera – Article published in the journal BioScience
- Crushing climate impacts to hit sooner than feared: draft UN report, AFP News Agency (June 2021) – Video: Coastal cities face their mortality on climate ‘frontline’ | AFP Exclusive
- FOSSIL FUEL EXIT STRATEGY – New report finds the world has more than enough renewable energy potential to replace fossil fuels and meet 1.5ºC target by the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney and conducted in cooperation with the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative (2021)
- Earth is now trapping an ‘unprecedented’ amount of heat, NASA says by T. Root, the Guardian; Study: Joint NASA, NOAA Study Finds Earth’s Energy Imbalance Has Doubled (2021)
- Launch of IPBES-IPCC Co-Sponsored Workshop Report on Biodiversity and Climate Change: media release and workshop report (June 2021)
- CO₂ Reaches Its Highest Level in More Than 4 Million Years by E. Roston, Bloomberg, The Economic Times (2021)
- Rising global temperatures ‘inexorably closer’ to climate tipping point – U.N. by A. Januta, Reuters (2021); Full Study: World Meteorological Organization – Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update
- Emissions Cuts Could Drop the Impact of Melting Ice on Oceans by Half by H. Fountain, New York Times (2021); Full Study: Projected land ice contributions to twenty-first-century sea level rise, by Edwards, T.L., Nowicki, S., Marzeion, B. et al., Nature, 2021
- Google Earth shows climate change happening in seconds with new feature Timelapse by I. Cavalletti, Eco-nnect (2021)
- Reducing ocean acidification by removing CO2: two targets for cutting-edge research in the Mediterranean Sea, CMCC Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change Foundation (2021)
- Luca Mercalli “La crisi climatica: prospettive al 2030 e 2050“, ASviS (2021)
- There Is A Monster Under The Arctic by W. Lockett, Medium (2021)
- Sir David King: EU Clean Energy Summit interview (23 March 2021)
- The Terrifying Warning Lurking in the Earth’s Ancient Rock Record by P. Brannen, The Atlantic (2021)
- Bottom trawling releases as much carbon as air travel, landmark study finds by K. McVeigh, The Guardian (2021) – Full study: Protecting the global ocean for biodiversity, food and climate by Sala, E., Mayorga, J., Bradley, D. et al., Nature (2021)
- Global Warming’s Deadly Combination: Heat and Humidity by H. Fountain, The New York Times (2021) – Full study: Projections of tropical heat stress constrained by atmospheric dynamics by Zhang, Y., Held, I. & Fueglistaler, S., Nature Geoscience (2021)
- Equivalent of Covid emissions drop needed every two years, by F. Harvey, The Guardian (2021) – Full study: Fossil CO2 emissions in the post-COVID-19 era by Le Quéré, C., Peters, G.P., Friedlingstein, P. et al., Nature Climate Change (2021)
- Carbon Budgets for 1.5 & 2°C by David Spratt & Ian Dunlop, Breakthrough Briefing Note (2021)
- National Climate Emergency Summit: RESET.21 | Matters of Facts: The Science of Getting it Right with Sir David King, Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and David Spratt
- Earth is now losing 1.2 trillion tons of ice each year. And it’s going to get worse by C. Mooney and A. Freedman, The Washington Post (2021)
- New Report Reveals Top 10 Insights in Climate Science in 2020, Future Earth, WCRP, The Earth League (2021) – Press Release and Full Report
- Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future by Bradshaw CJA et al., Front. Conserv. Sci. (2021)
- Scientists Warning Europe: Scientists’ Warnings to Humanity
- CDP EUROPE’S COMMENT ON EU climate ambition for 2030 and for the design of certain climate and energy policies of the European Green Deal, Carbon Disclosure Project (2020)
- La soglia limite del riscaldamento globale superata tra 2027 e 2042, Green&Blue La Repubblica (2020) – Full Article: An observation-based scaling model for climate sensitivity estimates and global projections to 2100 by R. Hébert et al., Climate Dynamics (2020)
- Ice sheet uncertainties could mean sea level will rise more than predicted by Hayley Dunning, Imperial College London News (2020) – Full Article: Twenty-first century sea-level rise could exceed IPCC projections for strong-warming futures by M. Siegert, R. B. Alley et al., OneEarth (2020)
- 10 years to transform the future of humanity – or destabilize the planet, Johan Rockström, TED Countdown (2020)
- Nature’s ticking time bomb? Mangroves, Peatlands and Boreal forest
- Arctic Report Card 2020, NOAA
- Emissions Gap Report 2020, UNEP, Key Messages
- Paris turning point: net zero targets would bring warming to 2.1°C, a Climate Action Tracker study (Dec. 2020)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- Stopping climate change could cost less than fighting covid-19 by Sir David King and Rick Parnell, The Washington Post (2020)
- Climate tipping points – too risky to bet against by Timothy M. Lenton, Johan Rockström et al., Nature (2020)
- Analisi del rischio: i cambiamenti climatici in Italia report by Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (2020)
- Il riscaldamento climatico in Europa. Ecco la situazione comune per comune by Lorenzo Ferrari e Ornaldo Gjergji, Valori.it (2020)
- Arctic methane deposits ‘starting to release’, scientists say by Jonathan Watts, The Guardian (2020)
- Arctic sea-ice shrinks to near record low extent by Jonathan Amos, BBC (2020)
- Climate change: Warmth shatters section of Greenland ice shelf by Jonathan Amos, BBC (2020)
- Existential climate-related security risk: A scenario approach by David Spratt and Ian Dunlop, Breakthrough – National Centre for Climate Restoration (2019)
- Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ by Pope Francis (2015)