2040 is when we will be really up the creek, according to a report issued on Monday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of scientists convened by the United Nations to guide world leaders. The report was written and edited by 91 scientists from 40 countries who analyzed more than 6,000 scientific studies and describes a world of worsening food shortages and wildfires, and a mass die-off of coral reefs as soon as 2040.
The report predicts that the atmosphere will warm up by as much as 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) above preindustrial levels by 2040, resulting in damaging coastlines and intensifying droughts and poverty. We can prevent this temperature increase by reducing greenhouse pollution by 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, and 100 percent by 2050. Coal is the preeminent problem; the scientists think we should stop using it. We have to increase renewable energy from today's 20 percent of the electricity mix to as much as 67 percent.
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