cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/54186876
Bill McGuire, a professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London, said there were “no surprises” from the report, “to the extent that every measure reported, whether it be global temperature, sea level rise or sea ice extent, points to the fact that we are in deep shit”.
He said: “Of most concern is the growing imbalance between the incoming energy from the sun and that leaving the planet. Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere mean that while the heat coming in stays the same, that going out is steadily decreasing as our world hangs on to more and more of it.
“It is this growing imbalance – rather than just emissions – that most accurately tracks global heating and how quickly our planet will continue to heat up in the decades to come. This is because natural feedbacks are now coming into play that are driving up the temperature more rapidly than 20 years ago.
“The latest research suggests we will cross the 1.5C limit permanently in 2028, and with the planet now heating at an extraordinary rate of 0.4C a decade, we can expect to smash through 2C in the late 2030s.
“The widely publicised idea that we are still on track for 2.6-2.8C by the end of the century now seems wildly optimistic, if not downright impossible.
The later is based purely on human GHG emissions estimations and don’t include feedbacks AFAIK, hence the growing discrepancy
That said, excellent interview here with Bill McGuire as well
“Smashing!” ~ Nigel Thornberry
