Global Warming

Earth Already Halfway to 2-Degree Warming Cap Goal

Global warming has already caused temperatures to increase by half of what governments pledged not to exceed, according to new calculations.

U.N. negotiations aim to limit the warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels through reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

In a fresh calculation run at the request of New Scientist magazine, computational scientist Kevin Cowtan of the University of York found that all but one of the data sets used to calculate climate change revealed that Earth will have already warmed more than 1 degree above 1850-1899 levels before the next U.N. climate talks get underway in December.

Many experts fear that if drastic action is not taken soon to reduce carbon emissions, Earth could surpass 2 degrees of warming by 2050.

Experts say limiting warming to below 2 degrees will help avoid the worst effects of climate change.

An apparent slowdown in global warming from 1998 to 2012 was due to a combination of a less active sun, higher levels of cooling aerosols from volcanoes and Asian factories in the atmosphere and the oceans absorbing a lot of the excess heat.