The Planet’s Axis Has Shifted and Other Climate Science You Missed
We read peer-reviewed science journals — so you don't have to.
A dried-out reservoir in Córdoba, Spain, in May.
Source: Getty Images
This is a roundup of recent findings in climate science from the latest issue of Bloomberg Green’s magazine. Subscribe to receive the magazine in print, and sign up to receive the Green Daily newsletter in your inbox.
An encouraging trend is emerging, even as extreme weather losses mount. Estimates for global warming are coming down. The International Energy Agency expects fossil fuel demand and emissions to peak by 2030. (OPEC disagrees.) The Inevitable Policy Response, a United Nations-supported research group for investors, now delivers a “high-conviction forecast” that the rise in the global average temperature will peak at 1.7C to 1.8C, and countries will zero out emissions by 2080. That’s less dangerous than 2C but more dangerous than 1.5C, the high- and low-end international targets. The first UN assessment of national climate commitments finds “the Paris Agreement has led to contributions that significantly reduce forecasts of future warming, yet the world is not on track to meet the long-term goals.”