Global warming agreement, the earth may survive

What is this?

...."The Paris agreement, the culmination of four grueling years of talks, commits the 195 nations that approved it  to limit global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, through 2100 compared to pre-industrial levels. It also promises to help put poor countries on a pathway to develop their economies in an environmentally friendly way.

In the next few weeks, the agreement will be “deposited” at United Nations headquarters in New York, where ambassadors will be asked to sign on behalf of their countries starting in April. After that, at least 55 countries representing at least 55% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming must ratify the deal so it can enter into force by Jan. 1, 2020.

U.S. ratification would require only President Obama’s signature, not Senate approval, since the agreement was crafted in a way so it would not be a treaty requiring ratification from a Republican-controlled Senate that might be hostile to the accord." USA Today/Eric J. Lyman, Special, 12/13/15."Paris climate deal: what comes next." 

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.... "The new deal will not, on its own, solve global warming. At best, scientists who have analyzed it say, it will cut global greenhouse gas emissions by about half enough as is necessary to stave off an increase in atmospheric temperatures of 2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the point at which, scientific studies have concluded, the world will be locked into a future of devastating consequences, including rising sea levels, severe droughts and flooding, widespread food and water shortages and more destructive storms.

But the Paris deal could represent the moment at which, because of a shift in global economic policy, the inexorable rise in planet-warming carbon emissions that started during the Industrial Revolution began to level out and eventually decline."  NY Times/Coral Davenport, 12/12/15."Nations Approve Landmark Climate Accord in Paris."

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 .... "The agreement - which is partly legally binding and partly voluntary - will come into being in 2020.  Key points. The measures in the agreement included: • To peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and achieve a balance between sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century. • To keep global temperature increase "well below" 2C (3.6F) and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C. • To review progress every five years. • $100bn a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020, with a commitment to further finance in the future.  BBC News/Science and Environment, 12/13/15, "COP21: Paris climate deal is 'best chance to save planet'"

Note: Photo/graphic from Just Facts/Global Warming; graphic from BBC News/Science and Environment 12/13/15 above.

Posted by Kathy Meeh