Limiting global warming to 2 degrees 'inadequate', scientists say

[Eugene]

Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation

Green | Fri May 1, 2015 11:12am EDT

Limiting global warming to 2 degrees 'inadequate', scientists say

BY LAURIE GOERING

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Holding global warming to a 2-degree Celsius temperature rise – the cornerstone of an expected new global climate agreement in December – will fail to prevent many of climate change's worst impacts, a group of scientists and other experts warned Friday.

With a 2-degree temperature hike, small islands in the Pacific may become uninhabitable, weather-related disasters will become more frequent, workers in many parts of the world will face sweltering conditions and large numbers of people will be displaced, particularly in coastal cities, the experts warned.

The 2-degree goal is "inadequate, posing serious threats for fundamental human rights, labor and migration and displacement" the experts said in a series of reports commissioned by the Climate Vulnerable Forum, a group of 20 countries chaired by the Philippines.

Some group members, particularly Pacific island states, have previously asked for a lower temperature target of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/01/us-climatechange-temperature-idUSKBN0NM40820150501

[daleanime]

1. kick, kick, kick....

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. The point is moot

We cannot limit global warming to 2°C at this point.

[Vogon_Glory]

3. Agreed The question now isn't whether it can be stopped but

Agreed. The question now isn't whether a global temperature rise can be averted (I don't believe that it can), but how we can limit the damage.

I think humanity in general and the U.S. in particular might have done more to minimize the effects of global warming if we'd started earlier, but 20 years of right-wing reactionary obstruction are going to make things much worse than they could have been if we could have started in the 1990's.