Retire all existing and planned fossil fuel power plants to limit warming to 1.5°C
Marcelle McManus, University of Bath It will be very difficult to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by enough to halt global heating at 1.5°C – the threshold at which catastrophic climate change becomes more likely – according to a new paper published in Nature. If the Earth warms by more than 1.5°C , millions of people could be displaced by sea level rise and global crop yields could decline. Fortunately, the political will to prevent this seems more widespread than ever . The UK recently became the first major economy to pass a commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 into law . Sounds positive, so what’s the problem? Well, the new study has shown that if the world continues to use its existing power plants, it’s likely that the target of 1.5°C will be exceeded. If all the fossil fuel plants and other carbon-emitting infrastructure that’s currently planned are built, this target will certainly be exceeded. There is a significant number of fossil fuel plants curr...