A study has found that the amount of carbon pollution already in the air is enough to exceed internationally agreed-upon goals to limit climate change. However, all is not lost even though the amount of warming cannot be stopped completely, it sure can be delayed for centuries if we manage to stop greenhouse gas emissions from burning of coal, oil and natural gas.

Nature Climate Change calculates that the carbon pollution already in the air will push global temperatures to about 2.3 degrees Celsius (4.1 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming since pre-industrial times. This estimate is different from previous estimates, including those accepted by international science panels, which were about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) less.

Andrew Dessler and his team of scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab and Nanjing University in China have calculated based on the committed warming that the world has warmed up at different rates in different places and the places that haven’t warmed up as fast will inevitably catch-up.

Some of the cooler places such as the Southern Ocean, surrounding Antarctica haven’t warmed up as fast. Their cooler temperatures create low-lying clouds that reflect more sun away from the Earth which helps to keep them cooler. Per the laws of physics, the cooler locations are bound to warm up even more and once that happens the clouds will disappear and this will cause even more heating. Previous studies indicated that these cooler places will remain so, however per Dessler and team this is not going to be the case.

The team also added that if the world manages to achieve net-zero carbon emissions soon, the 2 degree of global warming could be delayed enough by centuries giving mankind the time to come up with the required technological fixes.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/climate-climate-change-pollution-3f226aed9c58e36c69e7342b104d48bf