We're running out of time to save our species.
That's the warning issued last Friday by a group of nearly 2,000 leading international scientists. Their recent call for action was the outcome statement from a four-day meeting called "Our Common Future under Climate Change," which was a gathering of academics ahead of the UN climate talks in Paris later this year.
Their warning states, "The window for economically feasible solutions with a reasonable prospect of holding warming to 2 degrees Celsius or less is rapidly closing."
In other words, if we want to ensure the survival of our species, we better act fast and we better be bold. And by bold, these experts say that we need to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2050 - and a 70 percent reduction is recommended. Anything less will likely mean disaster.
In order to achieve such an ambitious goal, we must pursue bold solutions - and those solutions all start with standing up to the fossil fuel industry. In their call for action, these scientists say that it's time to end fossil fuel subsidies and time to put a price on carbon.
They say that a carbon tax, "helps level the playing field among energy technologies by charging for the damage caused by climate change and rewarding other benefits of mitigation activities." That means that green energy technology like wind, solar, and geothermal would suddenly be the more-affordable energy option for the planet.
In addition to these suggestions, the experts call for large, national investments in climate change adaptation, mitigation, and clean energy to help increase "inclusive and sustainable" growth.
We only have one planet to call home, and the actual scientists are telling us to get busy if we want to survive here much longer.
-Thom
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