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THE ENVIRONMENT
1.5°C = Too Much? Why Scientists Are Now Eyeing a Cooler Target
A new study suggests the Paris Climate Agreement’s target might not protect Earth’s ice sheets — or our coasts
I remember standing on a lake in Alaska, looking out toward a distant glacier as it calved into the sea. The sound was thunderous, like a distant drum roll, followed by eerie silence.
We’d been camping nearby, and at the time, I was studying how changing climates had shaped the land over millennia. But this wasn’t ancient history. This was now. The glacier was retreating fast, and the rocks beneath our feet told stories of a time when it had stretched much farther into the bay.
Back then, we were looking for evidence of past climate shifts, trying to understand how ancient environments responded to warming. But the work always left me wondering: how close are we to crossing similar lines today?
Turns out, maybe closer than we thought.
published in pulls together decades of evidence, from ancient shorelines to satellite data, and delivers a loud message: even if we limit warming to the Paris Agreement’s “safe” target of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, it…
