Climate change – an accelerating global problem
The United Nations has identified climate change as "the defining issue of our time", with the central aim of the 2015 Paris Agreement is to keep the rise in global temperatures to well below 2 °C compared to pre-industrial levels, and with the aim to limit the rise to 1.5 °C. This is driven by the scientific consensus that limiting the rise to 1.5 °C would significantly reduce the risks posed by climate change. Despite this, carbon dioxide emissions related to energy continue to rise – reaching 33.1 billion tonnes in 2018, a record high, and have increased by more than 40% since 2000.
Concerted international efforts over the past 20 years have increased the amount of electricity generated by wind, solar and other renewable sources, but have failed to displace fossil fuels from the mix. As a matter of fact, in 2017, fossil fuels produced more electricity – in relative and absolute terms – than ever before. In its 2018 report, Global Warming of 1.5 °C, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that we are likely to breach the 1.5 °C threshold by as early as 2030.
...
READ FULL ARTICLE
Published on 7/26/2022 (239 days ago) Nuclear