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Climate Scientists Say We Have 18 Months To Save The World

Climate Scientists Say We Have 18 Months To Save The World

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber said that the world might be 'fatally wounded by negligence until 2020'

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

The Earth's atmosphere is warming, faster than it probably ever has. In some cases weather patterns, climates and natural environments are changing quickly - we've seen that in the last few days alone as the UK has gone from an intense heatwave to a storm within hours.

It's a problem that more people are starting to take notice of, and now it has been claimed that the next 18 months will be critical in dealing with the crisis at hand.

According to the BBC, climate scientists have recognised that steps to enable massive cuts in carbon emissions will have to take place before the end of next year.

Climate Change Protest at Trafalgar Square in London.
PA

Speaking to the BBC, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founder and now director emeritus of the Potsdam Climate Institute said: "The climate math is brutally clear: While the world can't be healed within the next few years, it may be fatally wounded by negligence until 2020."

And at a reception for Commonwealth foreign ministers recently, Prince Charles echoed the sentiments, saying: "I am firmly of the view that the next 18 months will decide our ability to keep climate change to survivable levels and to restore nature to the equilibrium we need for our survival."

In last year's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it was reported that emissions of carbon dioxide would have to be cut by 45 percent by 2030 in a bid to keep the rise in global temperatures below 1.5°C.

Andrew King, a climate science academic at the University of Melbourne, said in a statement to CNN: "This is concerning because we know there are so many more problems if we exceed 1.5°C global warming, including more heat waves and hot summers, greater sea level rise, and, for many parts of the world, worse droughts and rainfall extremes."

'Make love not CO2' sign at the Climate Change Protest.
PA

Apparently, if nothing at all is done, Earth can expect temperatures to rise by 3°C, which probably sounds all well and good, but with that would come more frequent or extreme droughts, an increase in deadly hurricanes and as much as 90 percent of coral reefs dying off.

Andrew King added: "The window on keeping global warming below 1.5°C is closing rapidly and the current emissions pledges made by signatories to the Paris Agreement do not add up to us achieving that goal."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Environment, World News, climate change, News, Interesting