Climate change

Over the recent years there has been a strong focus on climate change whenever the environment is on the agenda. There has also been a debate over the exact causes for the observed changes in the global climate, but today an overwhelming majority of the scientific community believe that the main causes are deforestation and incineration of fossil fuels. The levels of carbon dioxide and other so called greenhouse gases (that contribute to climate change) in the atmosphere are steadily increasing, as is the global mean temperature. There is a growing convergence towards a “2°C guardrail” approach, which means allowing the global mean temperature to rise to no more than 2°C above the pre-industrial level. Beyond that point there is a fear that highly dangerous and irreversible changes in the global climate will occur (Rockström et al. 2009). The main mitigation actions are decreased green house gas emissions and increased areas of forests worldwide.

References

Rockström, J., W. Steffen, et al. (2009). “A safe operating space for humanity.” Nature 461(7263): 472-475.

Rockström, J., W. Steffen, et al. (2009). “Planetary boundaries: Exploring the safe operating space for humanity.” Ecology and Society 14(2): 32.