The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released a report which states, “limiting global warming to 1.5ºC would require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society,” (International Panel on Climate Change, 2018). The report featured “6,000 scientific references” and authors or editors from “40 different countries.” The name of the entire report is called “Global Warming of 1.5°C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty.” In the report, it is expected that if current rates of emissions and consumption remain, there is only a little over a decade before a possible humanitarian crisis, (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2018)
This new information, coupled with President Donald Trump’s support for the coal industry, is unsettling, to say the least. According to an article by The New York Times, “the E.P.A.’s newest rollback could help a small number of those endangered coal plants stave off retirement for a bit longer,” (Plumer, 2018). This support for fossil fuels by a nation as influential and powerful as the United States is alarming, specifically with the United States retraction from the Paris Climate Agreement, which was formulated to cut carbon emissions and limit the effects of global warming, (Erickson, 2018). However, this light-hearted approach to climate change is not exclusive to the United States. In an article in the Washington Post, it is reported that only two signers of the agreement, Morocco and The Gamibia, are currently meeting the standards set in place, (Erickson, 2018). With a global rejection of meeting the standards that were set and place and possible standards that might be implemented following the IPCC report, the current threat of global warming appears as one with minimal chance of improving. However, the New York Times reported that “utilities had already been shifting away from coal anyway, finding cleaner gas, wind and solar to be more attractive investments,” (Plumer, 2018). If this movement continues and occurs more rapidly, the use of more sustainable sources of energy may lead to a brighter perspective on climate change. In fact, even if Trump’s current proposal for coal consumption is approved, it is expected that “America’s coal plants would decline about 23 percent below today’s levels by 2030 without any climate regulations at all, (Plumer, 2018). Ultimately, the reported trends display a reduced interest and usage of coal as an energy source. Unfortunately, the IPCC report calls for much more than reduced interest with the situation presented in such a grave manner. I find it difficult to believe that a complete shift in all aspects of human interactions could occur rapidly enough to reverse the expected effects detailed in the IPCC report. Though concern about the effects of climate change appear to be increasing, I find it is necessary for the governing leaders of the world to reevaluate the extent of human impact and make large cultural, societal, and economic reforms for the heavily researched expectations for the future to change. Erickson, Amanda. "Analysis | Few Countries Are Meeting the Paris Climate Goals. Here Are the Ones That Are." The Washington Post. October 11, 2018. Accessed October 16, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/10/11/few-countries-are-meeting-paris-climate-goals-here-are-ones-that-are/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.838110c9730e. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "Ummary for Policymakers of IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C Approved by Governments." IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. October 8, 2018. Accessed October 16, 2018. http://ipcc.ch/news_and_events/pr_181008_P48_spm.shtml. Plumer, Brad. "Trump's New Pollution Rules Still Won't Save the Coal Industry." The New York Times. August 22, 2018. Accessed October 16, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/22/climate/trump-coal-industry.html.
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