A tipping point on climate change
We’re at the beginning of a make-or-break period to confront global warming. A combination of forces, from dire scientific reports to extreme weather events, have crystallized a movement to action…
A rare convergence of science that reveals the urgency of the problem; extreme events that highlight threats almost nationwide; and shifting public views that are fueling support for stronger policies, scientists and polling experts say.
In the past 2 years, a spate of dire scientific reports have been published, each of which has hammered home the urgency of acting on this issue.
- In October, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that the effects of global warming are already evident worldwide.
- To avoid more severe impacts, the panel said greenhouse gas emissions should be cut by about 45% by 2030, relative to 2010 levels — a Herculean task compared to current global trends.
- Another report the Trump administration released on Black Friday tied trends in wildfires, sea level rise, and other extreme events to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
- The collective message from these studies is that the actions we take in the next 10 to 20 years will be crucial to determining the climate for centuries to come.
Public polling shows evidence that these reports, plus extreme weather events such as the deadly, record-shattering California wildfires, are changing some minds.