Author: 1o5c_author

CarbonBrief article highlights that the increase to 2C rather than stabilizing at 1.5C has severe impacts on the melting of permafrost.

The cost of allowing global temperature to rise to 2C, rather than capping warming at 1.5C, is an area of permafrost the size of Mexico, according to new research.

The article features a study that links the commitments in the Paris Agreement to permafrost melting.

The study, carried out by a team of scientists from Sweden, Norway and the UK, is the first to work out what the ambitious targets contained in the Paris Agreement mean for permafrost loss. While warming of 2C would ultimately see permafrost-covered land shrink by more than 40%, stabilising at 1.5C would “save” approximately 2m square km, says the new study. The paper, published in Nature Climate Change, warns that thawing permafrost unlocks large amounts of CO2 and methane, which could potentially be released to the atmosphere.

Link to full article here

In a new report, A Stress Rest for Coal in Europe under the Paris Agreement, Climate Analytics says:

The EU will need to phase out CO2 emissions from all of its coal plants in the next 15 years if it is to meet the Paris Agreement’s long-term temperature goals

The report provides a science-based analysis of when – and where – each of the EU’s more than 300 coal power plants would need to be phased out.

View the interactive map here.

Climate Analytics found that for the EU to remain within the temperature limit of ‘well below 2˚C,’ coal plants must not emit more than 6.5Gt by 2050. If coal plants continue to operate as usual the EU will surpass limits necessary for the Paris Agreement by 85%.

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE