We all have heard the debate. We have seen “An Inconvenient Truth”. Most of us understand the significance of global warming. And now, a new study is helping support the claims.
Funded by the U.S. government, researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research ran computer simulations and found that cutting emissions by 70 percent by the end of the century would cause the Earth to warm by an average of about 2 degrees Celsius, versus 4 degrees if emissions continue growing at their current rate.
It’s their contention that this will help us escape the most severe effects of global warming. But, of course, this means that we will need to make steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions across many different industries.
The researchers say that hitting this goal will help us avoid massive loss of Arctic sea ice and permafrost and limit sea level rise. Future changes in snow and rainfall patterns and the incidence of heat waves would be about half as intense as they would be without the steep emissions cuts.
"We can no longer avoid significant warming during this century," lead author Warren Washington, an NCAR climatologist, said in a statement. "But if the world were to implement this level of emission cuts, we could stabilize the threat of climate change and avoid catastrophe."
The world has already warmed by an average of 1 degree Celsius over the last century. The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen from 284 parts per million in the pre-industrial era to 385 ppm today. That level could rise further, the study warned, to 750 ppm by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions continue on their current track.
Cuts could stabilize CO2 level at 450 ppm which is the danger zone cut-off. Anything past that, and we start to see the negative effects.
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