Climate Scientists: Earth on Track for 2°C Temperature Rise by 2050
In news of global warming, a new analysis by top climate scientists finds the Earth’s average temperature is on track to increase by 2 degrees Celsius––or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit––by mid-century, unless governments take dramatic steps to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The study finds that current pledges to combat climate change under a U.N. agreement crafted in Paris last December fall far short of preventing a temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius, one of the agreement’s goals. The study was led by the U.N.’s former top climate scientist, Robert Watson, who said governments need to double or triple their efforts to meet the Paris target.
Earth’s Atmosphere Passes 400 Parts Per Million of Carbon Dioxide
September 30, 2016 Headlines
Meanwhile, the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii reports atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have topped 400 parts per million throughout 2016 and are unlikely to fall below that level for the foreseeable future. That’s far above the 350 parts per million considered by many climate scientists to be the safe limit.
ExxonMobil Lawsuit Cites Decades-Long Cover-Up of Climate Change
September 30, 2016 Headlines
In other climate-related news, a new federal lawsuit takes aim at ExxonMobil in what advocates say is the first legal action targeting the oil giant for its decades-long cover-up of climate change. The suit, by the environmental group Conservation Law Foundation, charges ExxonMobil continues to pollute the Island End and Mystic rivers near Boston, in part by failing to fortify a storage facility to withstand rising seas and extreme weather caused by climate change. Last year, InsideClimate News and the Los Angeles Times revealed that for decades, beginning in 1977, Exxon concealed its own findings that fossil fuels cause global warming, alter the climate and melt Arctic ice.
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