As the American Southwest grows hotter, the risk of severe, long-lasting megadroughts rises, passing 90 percent likelihood by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current pace, a new study says. If we aggressively reduce emissions, however, we can cut that risk substantially, the authors write.
Today, the Paris Agreement got a big boost. 31 countries ratified or accepted the Paris Agreement, an internationa climate change treaty, an international climate change treaty that calls upon nations to reduce their total greenhouse gas emissions. The goal is to try and stave off the worst effects of global warming, such as extreme temperatures and sea level rise.
The ocean is coming for us. It is a sort of primordial cosmic justice: life oozed forth from the sea, spent millions of years conquering the land, and finally, over the past century, human-caused greenhouse gas emissions mean a warming planet and a rising ocean. This year's Paris Agreement is a step to halt the process, but the world is already warmer, and the ocean is rising.
Greenhouse gas emissions, particularly those from carbon dioxide, are on the rise. They have been for a while, to the alarm of governments, activist groups, and just about anyone vaguely concerned with environmental issues around the world. Greenhouse gases get their name because they have properties that make them act like glass in a greenhouse, keeping energy from the sun concentrated in our atmosphere, causing temperatures to rise. But until now, that particular effect hadn't been observed and documented in the scientific literature. Now, it has.
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