The world faces a significant risk of passing a crucial global warming threshold earlier than scientists had suggested, possibly as soon as 2050, a paper published Monday found.The threshold is the point at which Earth’s overall temperature has increased by 2.0 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.If greenhouse gas emissions remain at high levels, there’s a 50% probability the world could reach that catastrophic milestone before 2050, said co-author Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Stanford University. The chance it could reach 2.0 degrees before 2058 is 84 in 100. Earlier estimates had put it closer to the end of the century.How does climate change affect you?: Subscribe to the weekly Climate Point newsletterWhat did the study find?The paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used artificial intelligence and machine learning to model how much the climate has warmed in the past and how much it’s likely to warm in the future, given current levels of greenhouse gas releases.In line with multiple previous studies, it estimates Earth probably will cross the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold between 2033 and 2035. The planet already has warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius over preindustrial times. This latest study finds a high probability of reaching 2.0 degrees Celsius before 2065, even if the world substantially lowers greenhouse gas emissions. Either way, that would mean today’s kindergarteners would be dealing with high-impact climate changes by the time they’re in their 30s. READ MORE: Latest climate change news from USA TODAYWhy does it matter if the Earth warms a few degrees? Even a few degrees across the entire globe means a great deal more heat in the system as a whole. Warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius would increase heat waves, lengthen warm seasons and s …
AI on climate change: Dire forecast on rising temperatures, study says – USA TODAY
