For about 10 000years the average global temperature didn’t change by more than 1 degree Celsius. Then about 200 years ago humans started burning fossil fuels and all that changed.
Since 1800, which is when record-keeping began, the average global temperature has risen by 1 degree Celsius, the biggest change in 10 000 years. 2020 was tied with 2016 as the warmest years on record.
This has caused more violent storms, wildfires are common like what we’ve recently seen in California and Australia not to mention ancient glaciers are melting faster.
All this is happening from just 1 degree Celsius of global warming. Scientists predict that at this rate by 2100 we will see 3 degree Celsius increase in the average global temperature.
Most scientists say that we have to try and limit the increase between a range of 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius. Anything higher than that would be catastrophic not to the planet but to us as humans.
So in order to lower the rate of change to about 1.5 to 2 degrees, we have to start doing all we can today and that’s starts with cutting carbon dioxide, the largest greenhouse gas emitted by humans.
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And to do that we have to drastically move away from using fossil fuels for electricity and transportation. The current model of free-market change and carbon taxes will not get us to the 1.5 to 2-degree change we need in order to avoid a total disaster.
Scientists have given us all the data and solutions we might need, it’s up to the government to force the change, to replace every old fossil fuel energy generator with a clean one and make sure that every car is tailpipe emissions-free.
The sad part about all this is that, we current have the technology to get us where we need to be but governments are playing their part in putting policies in place that insure that all this is implemented.
So as much as we might think that we making strides, the current model is actually still the worst case scenario.
Sources: NASA, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions