Climate Threat Global Challenges

New Report: The World Can Still Reach 1.5 Degrees

The world still has a chance to return to the 1.5 degree warming target and thus avoid the worst consequences of a climate collapse. This is evident from a new report from Climate Analytics, reports The Guardian.

The 1.5 degree warming target was set in the Paris Agreement in 2015, but in the past two years, global warming has exceeded that limit.

According to a UN report released earlier this week, current plans from the world's governments will lead to a warming of 2.3-2.5 degrees - a level that would, among other things, lead to a sharp increase in extreme weather events.

To reverse this trend, coordinated efforts are needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including through a sharp expansion of renewable energy, write the researchers from Climate Analytics.

Scientists See Gates' Climate Talk as "Straw Man"

Climate scientists are criticizing Bill Gates after the Microsoft founder argued that aid money should primarily be used to combat threats other than climate change, writes The Guardian.

In a recent, highly publicized article, the tech billionaire wrote that global warming will not lead to the end of humanity, but he is misinterpreting the warnings of climate scientists, according to Katharine Hayhoe at the Nature Conservancy.

Hayhoe calls it "a straw man" and says she has never seen a scientific study that claims that humanity will be wiped out by climate change.

- What we are saying is that suffering increases for every tenth of a degree that the temperature rises. 

Hurricane Melissa
Analysis: Climate Change Made Melissa More Powerful

Human-caused climate change contributed to the strengthening of Hurricane Melissa, which recently hit Jamaica and Cuba, among other places. This is confirmed by the research network World Weather Attribution in a new report, writes AP.

According to the analysis, increased sea temperatures and increased humidity contributed to the hurricane's maximum wind speed being 7 percent higher than it otherwise would have been. The rain was 16 percent more intense.

The researchers also note that the weather conditions that contributed to the hurricane's strength have become six times more likely due to climate change.