Published in ERW, 2 Sep 2015
A “stringent” mitigation of methane emissions could allow us to emit 25% more carbon dioxide before the end of the century while limiting global temperature rise to 2°C. But scientists warn that relying on mitigation of non-carbon dioxide (CO2) species such as methane is “a very risky strategy”.
According to the latest assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), limiting the mean global temperature rise above pre-industrialization levels to 2°C — the point beyond which the effects of climate change are thought to be unacceptably dangerous — will “likely” require no more than 1000 billion tonnes of cumulative carbon emissions. Humanity has already emitted more than half that amount of carbon, which means that the carbon budget should now contain less than 500 billion tonnes. […]
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