Coastal Desk

Coastal News Roundup: Major Report Says Future Grim, But Climate Target Technically Possible

WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio | By Travis Lux,

Travis Lux

Published October 12, 2018 at 5:05 PM CDT

Authors of the report say it's technically possible to keep the world from warming beyond 1.5Â°C, but doing so would require massive, rapid changes -- such as reducing carbon emissions by 75-90% in the next 30 years.

The goal of the 2016 Paris Climate agreement is to limit global warming to less than two degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels. While President Trump has announced his intentions to pull out of the agreement, other nations, cities, and researchers are still working toward that goal.

This week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report showing what will happen if the earth warms more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (we’re already at about 1°C). The outlook is dire.

For this week’s coastal news roundup, WWNO’s Travis Lux spoke with one of the report’s authors, Bill Solecki, professor of Geography at Hunter College in New York.

You can catch the Coastal News Roundup on 89.9 FM every Friday at 7:45am and 4:44pm.Support for the Coastal Desk comes from the Walton Family Foundation, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the Foundation for Louisiana, and local listeners.