{"id":719,"date":"2009-07-08T17:42:53","date_gmt":"2009-07-08T22:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.realclimate.org\/?p=719"},"modified":"2009-07-08T17:42:53","modified_gmt":"2009-07-08T22:42:53","slug":"two-degrees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.realclimate.org\/index.php\/archives\/2009\/07\/two-degrees\/","title":{"rendered":"Two degrees"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The countries of the G8 today approved a target of 2\u00b0 C rise in global average temperature above the natural, preanthropogenic climate, that they resolve should be avoided. The Europeans have been pushing for 2 degrees as a target maximum temperature for several years, but this is something of a development for the Americans. We posted recently<\/a> on two new papers about what it would take to limit global average warming, finding that it would require fairly strong change in trajectory. About 2\u00b0 C as a target, we wrote, <\/p>\n

… even a \u201cmoderate\u201d warming of 2\u00b0C stands a strong chance of provoking drought and storm responses that could challenge civilized society, leading potentially to the conflict and suffering that go with failed states and mass migrations. Global warming of 2\u00b0C would leave the Earth warmer than it has been in millions of years, a disruption of climate conditions that have been stable for longer than the history of human agriculture. Given the drought that already afflicts Australia, the crumbling of the sea ice in the Arctic, and the increasing storm damage after only 0.8\u00b0C of warming so far, a target of 2\u00b0C seems almost cavalier.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nevertheless, we view today’s development as a constructive step. <\/p>\n\n<\/div> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The countries of the G8 today approved a target of 2\u00b0 C rise in global average temperature above the natural, preanthropogenic climate, that they resolve should be avoided. The Europeans have been pushing for 2 degrees as a target maximum temperature for several years, but this is something of a development for the Americans. We […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-climate-science","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t