Planet is headed for at least 2.5C of heating with disastrous results for humanity, poll of hundreds of scientists finds

Hundreds of the world’s leading climate scientists expect global temperatures to rise to at least 2.5C (4.5F) this century, blasting past internationally agreed targets and causing catastrophic consequences for humanity and the planet, an exclusive Guardian survey has revealed.

Almost 80% of the respondents, all from the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), foresee at least 2.5C of global heating above preindustrial levels, while almost half anticipate at least 3C (5.4F). Only 6% thought the internationally agreed 1.5C (2.7F) limit will be met.

Many of the scientists envisage a “semi-dystopian” future, with famines, conflicts and mass migration, driven by heatwaves, wildfires, floods and storms of an intensity and frequency far beyond those that have already struck.

Numerous experts said they had been left feeling hopeless, infuriated and scared by the failure of governments to act despite the clear scientific evidence provided.

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[–] 139 points 2 years ago (17 children)

My favorite part was when corporations lied their asses off to the entire world for over 50 years while simultaneously telling is this is all our fault but if we recycled and didn't use too much water, gas, or electricity we could undo the harm that we were personally responsible for.

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  • [–] 63 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (6 children)

    I’m rather fond of the part where they admitted to those lies, and the US didn’t force them to pay restitutions equal to the cost of mitigating the damage they’ve caused.

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    In 2068, I'm sure some entrepreneurial politician will run on the "Prosecute the oil companies!" platform, long after a bunch of them have gone bankrupt and all the damage has long since been irreparably done.

    Until then, we just need to keep looking for the Least Bad politician (the guy who has one hand out to fossil fuel and another to privatized wind/solar) rather than the guy who insists wind farms spread COVID with 5g, and hope we don't live long enough to reap the whirlwind.

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    [–] 98 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    I dont understand, everyone bought bigger SUV's and it didnt help

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  • [–] 39 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    Unironically, that’s partly due to our emissions coding system. According to the system, a light truck with more seats gets more emissions allowance, incentivizing auto makers to lean into the larger class. That’s why there are so many extended cab pickups, yet so few two-seaters with an eight foot bed. We all know that six-seater Ram MegaCab or the Escalade that seats eight is often only driving one selfish person to work.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    Its entirely due to people buying larger SUV's.

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    [+] 57 points 2 years ago (57 children)
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    [–] 24 points 2 years ago

    We have already gone past that for the last couple of years. It seems like 6% of respondents are very naïve.

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  • [–] 18 points 2 years ago (12 children)

    Anyone who hasn't had their head up their ass has been aware of this. Life will be extremely shitty by the mid century. If you haven't made the horrible choice to reproduce, be sure that you don't. There will be no future worth living for those born today.

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    [–] 10 points 2 years ago (10 children)

    The only chance we have that I see is the rapid development of fusion into a proper, usable power source, the supplantation of effectively all carbon emitting power plants with non-emitting plants (fusion or otherwise), the effectively complete electrification of the global commercial transport system, and a massive scaling of production direct carbon capture, leveraging the various aforementioned non-carbon emitting electricity sources to make it happen.

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    [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Guess who is trying to deep-six EVs?

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    [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)
    • 77% of respondents believe global temperatures will reach at least 2.5C above pre-industrial levels, a devastating degree of heating;

    • almost half – 42% – think it will be more than 3C;

    • only 6% think the 1.5C limit will be achieved.

    This is not how science works.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    famines, conflicts and mass migration

    This will happen for sure and the cause is not just climate change. The cause is overpopulation and exhaustion of the Earth resources.

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