Global Warming of 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C

On Oct 8, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways. And a summary version for policymakers.

1.5°C was the target to strive for, agreed in 2015 Paris Agreement. (countries agreed to limit warming to below 2°C above preindustrial levels by 2100)

However, we are nowhere close.

Source: Climate Action Tracker

Limiting warming to 1.5°C is possible within the laws of chemistry and physics but doing so would require unprecedented changes.

– Jim Skea of Imperial College London and an IPCC co-author

By “unprecedented changes,” Skea means essentially two things. First, the world needs to start cutting emissions. Instead in 2017, the world’s emissions a new record high. Second, we need to reduce those emissions very quickly. (Quartz)

Many researches have been done to analyze the impacts of a warming of 1.5°C and above.