All fossil fuels must be BANNED within 40 years to keep global warming beneath safe levels

All fossil fuels must be BANNED within 40 years to keep global warming beneath safe levels, scientists claim

  •  Global fossil fuel usage needs to fall to near-zero to avoid climate disasters
  •  Adopting such a plan would rely on zero-carbon alternatives to power the world
  • Even if ambition is realised, any large ‘tipping-points’ would make it all a waste 
  • Delaying action until 2030 increased chances of severe drought and flooding

A world with no fossil-fulled cars, planes, and factories is the reality for the next 40 years if we want to keep global warming below safe levels, scientists have claimed. 

Researchers from the University of Leeds used climate simulations to predict the fate of the planet under different fossil fuel scenarios. 

They found there was a 64 per cent chance of keeping global warming below the critical threshold of 1.5C (2.7°F) above pre-industrial levels but only if a massive drive to clear fossil fuels started now. 

 

A world without cars, planes, ships and factories powered by fossil fuels would have to become a reality in the next 40 years to have a realistic hope of keeping global warming below safe levels, scientists claim (stock image)

Researchers used a climate model to determine what would happen to global temperatures if CO² emissions were phased out from the end of 2018 to near-zero in the next 40 years. 

Petrol and diesel-driven cars, aircraft and ships run on fossil fuels, and carbon-emitting power plants and factories would disappear in the next four decades. 

They would be replaced by zero-carbon alternatives such as electric cars, modern-style sailing vessels and renewable energy sources.  

 A big question mark hangs over the future of commercial air travel.

Currently there is no practical alternative to kerosene aviation fuel, despite experiments involving solar powered flight and hydrogen.

Delaying action until 2030 reduced the chances of keeping a 1.5°C (2.7°F) lid on global warming to below 50%, said the scientists writing in the journal Nature Communications. 

Global warming above 1.5°C (2.7°F) increases the likelihood of severe droughts and flooding in coastal cities, according to experts. 

Researchers used climate simulations to predict the fate of the planet under different fossil fuel scenarios. They found there was a 64 per cent chance of pegging global warming below the critical threshold of 1.5°C (2.7°F) above pre-industrial levels - but only if a massive programme to rid the world of fossil fuels started now (stock image)

Researchers used climate simulations to predict the fate of the planet under different fossil fuel scenarios. They found there was a 64 per cent chance of pegging global warming below the critical threshold of 1.5°C (2.7°F) above pre-industrial levels – but only if a massive programme to rid the world of fossil fuels started now (stock image)

But even with the radical programme of eliminating fossil fuels, any large-scale ‘tipping points’ would see all the hard work go to waste. 

Such changes could include the melting of polar permafrost or the sudden release of methane trapped on the ocean floor, which would send the Earth into a warming spiral.  

The authors of the new study, led by Dr Christopher Smith, wrote: ‘Although the challenges laid out by the Paris Agreement are daunting, we indicate 1.5°C (12.7°F) remains possible and is attainable with ambitious and immediate emission reduction across all sectors.’  

WHAT IS THE PARIS AGREEMENT? 

The Paris Agreement, which was first signed in 2015, is an international agreement to control and limit climate change.

It hopes to hold the increase in the global average temperature to below 2°C (3.6ºF) ‘and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C (2.7°F)’.

It seems the more ambitious goal of restricting global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F) may be more important than ever, according to previous research which claims 25 per cent of the world could see a significant increase in drier conditions.

In June 2017, President Trump announced his intention for the US, the second largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, to withdraw from the agreement.  

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change has four main goals with regards to reducing emissions:

1)  A long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels

2) To aim to limit the increase to 1.5°C, since this would significantly reduce risks and the impacts of climate change

3) Goverments agreed on the need for global emissions to peak as soon as possible, recognising that this will take longer for developing countries

4) To undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with the best available science

Source: European Commission 

Other experts described the findings as ‘insightful’ and ‘welcome’ and offered a reason to be optimistic about the future, but only if immediate action is taken. 

Mark Maslin, professor of climatology at University College London, warned: ‘Each year we fail to cut global emissions will make it more unlikely that we can keep global warming below 1.5°C.’ 

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, world leaders pledged to limit global warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels and ‘pursue efforts’ to achieve a lower target of 1.5°C (2.7°F). 

Professor Dave Reay, chair in carbon management at the University of Edinburgh, said: ‘the message of this new study is loud and clear: act now or see the last chance for a safer climate future ebb away.’ 

The latest study from the University of Leeds was published in Nature Communications on January 15th. 

 

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