<h2>Climate Context</h2>
Climate change is transforming our world. From <a href="https://futurism.com/sea-levels-rising-different-rates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rising sea levels</a> to <a href="https://futurism.com/arctic-ice-melt-causes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">melting Arctic ice</a>, the evidence is undeniable.
But for people who don&#8217;t live near a coast, the Arctic, or some other place where the impact of climate change is already obvious — like the Russian town currently <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/polar-bears-terrorizing-russian-town" target="_blank" rel="noopener">under siege by polar bears</a> — the situation might not seem as dire as it actually is.
Now, two U.S. researchers have created an interactive web app that makes it easy for people in North America to see the dramatic potential impact of climate change — by showing them exactly how it&#8217;s likely to affect the climate near where they live.
<h2>Head South</h2>
In a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08540-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paper</a> published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers describe how they projected what the climate of 540 urban areas in North America might look like in 2080. Then, they found a city whose current climate closely aligns with those predictions.
Finally, the researchers created an <a href="https://fitzlab.shinyapps.io/cityapp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interactive web application</a> where a person can type in the name of a city and find out how that city will &#8220;feel&#8221; in 60 years.
In general, the researchers predict that the climate of any North American location in 2080 will be comparable to that of a place approximately <a href="https://www.inverse.com/article/53235-how-will-climate-change-impact-cities-rain-and-temperature" target="_blank" rel="noopener">528 miles south</a> of it today.
That means Washington, D.C.&#8217;s climate in 2080 will closely resemble that of northern Mississippi today. San Francisco will feel like modern Los Angeles, while L.A. will feel more like 2019 Las Palmas, Mexico.
<h2>NIMBYs</h2>
Climate projections are nothing new. However, this project puts them in a very accessible context that could have a more profound impact on the public than a series of charts or a picture of a starving polar bear might.
By visiting this website, a person can see how climate change is likely to transform life in their hometown — or perhaps the city where they plan to retire — and hopefully, that will serve as a much-needed wake-up call to anyone who doesn&#8217;t grasp the severity of climate change.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.inverse.com/article/53235-how-will-climate-change-impact-cities-rain-and-temperature" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scientists Predict Huge Changes in Weather for 450 US Cities by 2080</a> [Inverse]
More on climate change: <a href="https://futurism.com/sea-levels-rising-different-rates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Why Sea Levels Along the US East Coast Are Rising at Different Rates</a>

In 60 years, D.C. could feel like Mississippi, while L.A. resembles Mexico.

Terrifying app shows how climate change will transform 540 cities

Forecast 2080

An interactive maps show how climate change will make 540 North American cities feel like completely different locations by 2080.

Terrifying App Shows How Climate Change Will Transform 540 Cities

See what city your hometown will feel like by 2080.

<h2>Deep Water</h2>
Researchers from MIT think they&#8217;ve uncovered a <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2019/study-ocean-color-change-phytoplankton-climate-0204" target="_blank" rel="noopener">natural warning system</a> for climate change: the oceans&#8217; color.
According to the researchers, we can track the effects of climate change by paying attention to the color of ocean water from space — and based on their calculations, we should expect our planet to look quite different relatively soon.
&#8220;There will be a noticeable difference in the color of 50 percent of the ocean by the end of the 21st century,&#8221; researcher Stephanie Dutkiewicz <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2019/study-ocean-color-change-phytoplankton-climate-0204" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told MIT News</a>. &#8220;It could be potentially quite serious.&#8221;
<h2>Color Bind</h2>
When sunlight hits water, the water molecules absorb certain colors of the light spectrum more strongly than others. The blue part of the spectrum is absorbed least strongly, meaning the blue light reflects back out, making the water appear blue.
The appearance of water can change depending on what&#8217;s in it, though. Areas with higher concentrations of phytoplankton, microscopic marine organisms, appear more greenish because the organisms absorb more of the blue spectrum light and reflect some of the green.
In a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08457-x.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> published on Monday in the journal Nature Communications, the MIT team describes how it created a model of the Earth that simulates future changes in phytoplankton ecosystems as <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-warming-oceans-catastrophic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">water temperatures rise</a> due to climate change, and predicts the effect those changes will have on the oceans&#8217; color.
When the team compared their model to past sunlight reflection measurements produced by satellites, they found it was accurate enough to predict future changes to the oceans&#8217; color.
<h2>Obvious Sign</h2>
By using satellites to keep an eye out for early signs of color changes in the oceans, the MIT team believes we may be able to better prepare for the domino effect that changes in phytoplankton can have on the rest of a marine ecosystem.
&#8220;Different types of phytoplankton absorb light differently,&#8221; Dutkiewicz <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2019/study-ocean-color-change-phytoplankton-climate-0204" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told MIT News</a>, &#8220;and if climate change shifts one community of phytoplankton to another, that will also change the types of food webs they can support.&#8221;
“The nice thing about this model is, we can use it as a laboratory, a place where we can experiment, to see how our planet is going to change,” she added.
READ MORE: <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2019/study-ocean-color-change-phytoplankton-climate-0204" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Study: Much of the Surface Ocean Will Shift in Color by End of 21st Century</a> [MIT News]
More on oceans: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-warming-oceans-catastrophic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scientists: Warming Oceans Will Lead to “Catastrophic” Future</a>

Global warming is changing the oceans’ color

Water Colors

MIT researchers suggest we pay attention to the oceans' color to track marine ecosystem changes caused by climate change.

Global Warming Is Changing the Oceans’ Color

MIT researchers predict 50 percent of the ocean will change color by 2100.

<h2>Facing Reality</h2>
Americans are coming to terms with the reality of global warming.
That&#8217;s the conclusion of a <a href="http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-december-2018/">new report</a> from researchers from Yale University and George Mason University about Americans&#8217; shifting attitudes toward global warming. They found that more Americans than ever before now think global warming is happening — and they&#8217;re increasingly worried about what it means for the future.
<h2>Taking Responsibility</h2>
The researchers conducted the survey between Nov. 28 and Dec. 11, 2018. Of the 1,114 American adults polled, 73 percent believed <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/global-temperatures-increase-2100" target="_blank" rel="noopener">global warming</a> is happening. That&#8217;s 10 percent more than thought the same thing in 2015 and 3 percent more than believed in global warming in March 2018.
Americans are also more willing to take responsibility for climate change, with 62 percent saying they believed humans are the primary cause. That&#8217;s a 4-percent increase over March 2018&#8217;s figure. The number of people blaming natural causes for climate change dropped 5 percent, down to a record-low 23 percent.
<h2>Worried World</h2>
People aren&#8217;t just more willing to believe in global warming and humanity&#8217;s role in it — they&#8217;re also more concerned about what it means for the future. Based on the global warming survey, the number of people worried about the situation has increased by 8 percent since March 2018, from 61 to 69 percent of Americans.
&#8220;People are beginning to understand that climate change is here in the United States, here in my state, in my community, affecting the people and places I care about, and now,&#8221; researcher Anthony Leiserowitz <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/climate/americans-global-warming-poll.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told The New York Times</a>. &#8220;This isn’t happening in 50 years, 100 years from now.&#8221;
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/climate/americans-global-warming-poll.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global Warming Concerns Rise Among Americans in New Poll</a> [The New York Times]
More on global warming: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/global-temperatures-increase-2100" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Report: Global Temps Could Rise 9 Degrees Fahrenheit by 2100</a>

They're also more willing to take responsibility for it.

More Americans believe in global warming than ever before

True Story

The results of a new global warming survey reveal Americans increased belief in the phenomenon — as well as their concerns about its impact.

More Americans Believe in Global Warming Than Ever Before

And they're increasingly worried about it.

<h2>Land of the Living</h2>
Earth&#8217;s <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/palau-sunscreen-ban-coral-reef" target="_blank" rel="noopener">coral reefs</a> are dying at an alarming rate, but Coral Vita thinks it knows how to save them.
The startup is building the world&#8217;s first commercial, land-based coral farm — a place it can efficiently grow coral to later transplant into the world&#8217;s oceans. Once completed, the farm could be our best option for protecting one of Earth&#8217;s most precious natural resources.
<h2>Farm Fresh</h2>
Coral farming typically involves removing pieces of coral from a reef and then nurturing their growth in an underwater farm. Farmers then transplant the coral into a degraded reef. The problem with an underwater coral farm is that it&#8217;s conducive neither to large-scale projects nor ones focused on slow-growing corals.
According to <a href="http://www.coralvita.co/coral-farming/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coral Vita&#8217;s website</a>, by growing coral in land-based farms, the startup can utilize processes that aren&#8217;t possible underwater, such as microfragmenting, which allows Coral Vita to accelerate the growth rate of some corals by up to 50 times.
Land-based farming also gives Coral Vita the ability to control every aspect of a coral&#8217;s growing conditions, which it can use to ensure the coral it grows is more resistant to threats such as increased water acidification and higher temperatures.
<h2>Reefs Matter</h2>
The importance of saving Earth&#8217;s coral reefs is hard to overstate. Not only do they provide <a href="https://coral.org/coral-reefs-101/why-care-about-reefs/biodiversity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">homes for wildlife</a>, reefs also protect our <a href="https://coral.org/coral-reefs-101/why-care-about-reefs/coastal-protection/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shorelines</a>, provide <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/saltwater-science/why_are_coral_reefs_important" target="_blank" rel="noopener">food for humans</a>, and play a major role in the <a href="https://www.icriforum.org/icri-documents/icri-publications-reports-and-posters/coral-reef-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">global economy</a>.
&#8220;We plan to sell restoration services to resorts, developers, governments, coastal insurers, and everyone else who depends on these benefits,&#8221; co-founder Sam Teicher <a href="https://news.yale.edu/2019/01/04/alumni-startup-counters-coral-loss-worlds-first-land-based-coral-farm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Yale News</a>. &#8220;Simultaneously, our farms function as eco-tourism attractions, where people can experience coral farming, adopt corals for restoration, and even plant corals with our teams.&#8221;
While Coral Vita may be able to help humanity deal with the effects of dying reefs, Teicher acknowledges that the startup can&#8217;t get to the root of the problem.
&#8220;A lot of people are looking for hope right now,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Restoration is not a silver bullet, but until our leaders step up now to stop killing reefs and the ecosystems that sustain us all, it’s a necessary strategy to help keep them alive.&#8221;
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/building-worlds-first-land-based-coral-farm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Building the World’s First Land-Based Coral Farm</a> [UN Environment]
More on coral: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/palau-sunscreen-ban-coral-reef" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Sunscreen Ban Won’t Save the Coral Reefs, but It’s a Good Start</a>

The world's first commercial, land-based coral farm is one step closer to completion.

This startup is growing coral on land and transplanting it into damaged reefs

Reef Madness

Coral Vita is working to build a coral farm on land, which it claims allows it to grow coral at up to 50 times the rate of underwater farms.

This Startup Is Growing Coral on Land and Transplanting It Into Damaged Reefs

It says it can accelerate the growth rate of some corals by up to 50 times. 

<h2>Climate Report</h2>
A <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6423/128.summary">new study</a> in the journal Science has found that the Earth&#8217;s oceans are warming far faster than experts had previously predicted, leading to a bleak outlook among climate scientists who say the rapid environmental shifts will lead to international disputes, humanitarian crises and deadly freak weather events.
The New York Times, for instance, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/climate/ocean-warming-climate-change.html">summarized researchers&#8217; view of the findings</a> as &#8220;catastrophic.&#8221;
&#8220;It’s spilling over far beyond just fish, it’s turned into trade wars,&#8221; Rutgers professor Malin Pinsky told the newspaper. &#8220;It’s turned into diplomatic disputes. It&#8217;s led to a breakdown in international relations in some cases.&#8221;
<h2>Warming Oceans</h2>
As the greenhouse effect has intensified, according to the new research, the oceans have born the brunt of global warming. Readings suggest that 2018 will be the hottest year on record for the planet&#8217;s seas, replacing 2017 and 2016 before it.
The effects for weather patterns and marine life are dire, experts warn — and <a href="https://futurism.com/ocean-continues-warm-fish-menu">food shortages</a> and displacement will leak into geopolitics long before we scorch life above the waterline as well.
&#8220;If the ocean wasn’t absorbing as much heat, the surface of the land would heat up much faster than it is right now,&#8221; Pinsky told the Times. &#8220;In fact, the ocean is saving us from massive warming right now.&#8221;
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/climate/ocean-warming-climate-change.html">Ocean Warming Is Accelerating Faster Than Thought, New Research Finds</a> [The New York Times]
More on climate change: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/geoengineering-climate-change">Scientists Want to Fight Climate Change by Dimming the Sun</a>

"It’s turned into diplomatic disputes. It's led to a breakdown in international relations in some cases."

Scientists: warming oceans will lead to "catastrophic" future

Boiling Oceans

A new study in the journal Science has found that climate change is warming oceans far faster than experts had previously predicted.

Scientists: Warming Oceans Will Lead to “Catastrophic” Future

The dying oceans will lead to chaos on land, experts warn.

<h2>Troubling Trend</h2>
On Thursday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published a <a href="http://ane4bf-datap1.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wmocms/s3fs-public/ckeditor/files/Draft_Statement_26_11_2018_v12_approved_jk.pdf?NKxFEzQf_oC80ccPsdsMDUIFw5EdKJDl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> on the state of the global climate in 2018.
According to its analysis, this year&#8217;s average global temperature will likely be the fourth highest on record. Even more alarming, we could see the temperature increase by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius (5.4 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100.
As WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas noted in a <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/climate-change-signals-and-impacts-continue-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>, it all boils down to a bleak prognosis: &#8220;We are not on track to meet climate change targets and rein in temperature increases.&#8221;
<h2>Beyond the Heat</h2>
According to the WMO report, record temperatures are just one sign that climate change is persisting.
Sea levels continue to rise, oceans continue to warm, and glaciers continue to melt. Extreme weather events pummeled every continent on Earth in 2018, and greenhouse gas concentrations are at record levels.
<h2>Paris Planning</h2>
The WMO report is <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/ipcc-report-climate-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of several</a> designed to educate delegates involved in the United Nations climate change negotiations, which will take place during the first two weeks of December and center on the adoption of the Paris Agreement guidelines.
The decisions made by those delegates could either help us avoid the troubling future predicted by the WMO report or steer us directly toward it.
&#8220;It is worth repeating once again that we are the first generation to fully understand climate change and the last generation to be able to do something about it,&#8221; Taalas said in the press release.
READ MORE: <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/climate-change-signals-and-impacts-continue-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Climate Change Signals and Impacts Continue in 2018</a> [WMO]
More on global warming: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/ipcc-report-climate-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Report: Unless We Make Dramatic Changes, We’re Headed for Climate Catastrophe</a>

The goal of the Paris Agreement is to keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius. This would be more than double that.

Report: Global temps could ride 9 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100

Bad News Bearers

Global temperatures are on track for devastating increases before the end of the century, according to a newly published report.

Report: Global Temps Could Rise 9 Degrees Fahrenheit by 2100

Record temperatures are just one sign that climate change is persisting.

<h2>Good News, Everyone</h2>
It seems like <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/abrupt-thawing-arctic-lakes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">every</a> <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/hothouse-earth-paris-agreement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent</a> <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/ipcc-report-climate-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> on the environment has had the same takeaway: We&#8217;re heading toward a climate catastrophe.
A newly released <a href="http://conf.montreal-protocol.org/meeting/mop/mop30/presession/Background-Documents/SAP-2018-Assessment-ES-October2018.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> backed by the United Nations bucks that trend with some very positive news. It seems our global efforts to repair the ozone layer are actually paying off — and even better, future efforts already in the works have the potential to help us address global warming.
How&#8217;s that for a breath of fresh, non-toxic air?
<h2>In the Zone</h2>
Every four years, an international team of researchers releases a report focused on the state of Earth&#8217;s stratospheric <a href="https://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/facts/SH.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ozone</a>, a naturally occurring gas that shields the planet from ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
Unfortunately, our actions on Earth have had a detrimental effect on the ozone layer. For decades, we pumped chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the air, and these depleted the ozone layer, leaving us vulnerable to that harmful UV radiation.
In 1987, the world decided to take action against this damage to the ozone layer through the <a href="https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&amp;mtdsg_no=XXVII-2-a&amp;chapter=27&amp;clang=_en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Montreal Protocol</a>, an international treaty focused primarily on the phasing out of CFCs. As of 2010, the harmful chemicals were completely banned.
Based on this newly released report, those efforts have paid off.
Ozone in certain parts of the stratosphere has increased by 1 to 3 percent every decade since 2000. Based on current projections, the ozone layer above the Northern Hemisphere will be completely healed by the 2030s, with the Southern Hemisphere following in the 2050s and the polar regions by 2060.
<h2>Building Momentum</h2>
Though the findings of this new report are promising, we are far from any sort of &#8220;mission accomplished&#8221; moment when it comes to the ozone.
We already know that not everyone is abiding by the CFC ban — <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/ozone-destroying-emissions-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">looking at you, China</a> — so we&#8217;ll need to figure out a way to address that issue.
We&#8217;re also just months away from the implementation of the <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/news/kigali-amendment-montreal-protocol-another-global-commitment-stop-climate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kigali Amendment</a>, an update to the Montreal Protocol that will guide the phasing out of another type of harmful chemical, hydroflourocarbons (HFCs). This amendment has the potential to not only build on the ozone-repair efforts already in place, but also help us avoid up to 0.4 percent of global warming this century, so we&#8217;ll need to ensure the world is as committed to phasing out HFCs as it has been CFCs.
If we can do that, who knows? Maybe environmental reports containing positive news could become the norm.
READ MORE: <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/11/1024842" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Healing of Ozone Layer Gives Hope for Climate Action: UN Report</a> [UN News]
More on CFCs: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/ozone-destroying-emissions-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Report Identifies China as the Source of Ozone-Destroying Emissions</a>

We could completely heal the Earth's protective layer by 2060.

Our efforts to heal the ozone layer are finally paying off

Hallelujah

The ozone is finally healing, according to the latest version of a United Nations-backed report released every four years.

Our Efforts to Heal the Ozone Layer Are Finally Paying Off

We're slowly but steadily repairing the damage we caused.

<h2>See For Yourself</h2>
Climate change is transforming our world. That&#8217;s <a href="https://futurism.com/study-reviews-climate-science-results-no-evidence-publication-bias/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a fact</a> we know is true based on countless measurements and studies.
But if seeing is believing, it&#8217;s understandable that some people have trouble grasping the magnitude of the problem. After all, it takes time <a href="https://futurism.com/artificial-walls-archipelagos-polar-glaciers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for Arctic ice to melt</a>, <a href="https://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/climate-change-and-african-rivers-3351" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for African rivers to dry up</a>, and <a href="https://futurism.com/sea-level-rise-faster/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for global sea levels to rise</a>. Because cameras and video recorders have only been around for a couple of centuries, we don&#8217;t have any images or footage of those activities taking place over long periods of time — yet.
<h2>Eyes Forward</h2>
Self-described “experimental philosopher” and artist Jonathon Keats is determined to give future generations the ability to &#8220;see&#8221; climate change in action. He also wants to inspire today&#8217;s generations to think hard about how their actions could affect the world centuries from now.
To that end, Keats has created four &#8220;Millennium Cameras.&#8221; Each of these <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/how-to-make-a-pinhole-camera/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pinhole cameras</a> will take a 1,000-year-long exposure of Lake Tahoe, a freshwater lake that straddles the border of California and Nevada.
“We are changing the planet on timescales of a 1,000, 10,000 or even 100,000 years, and we&#8217;re completely incapable of psychologically appreciating the power that we have,” Keats <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/43ee9m/this-camera-will-take-a-1000-year-photo-to-document-climate-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Motherboard</a>. “[The cameras are] a means to have a sort of cognitive prosthesis, a mechanism for us to be able to see ourselves from that far-future perspective.”
<h2>Very Longterm Contract</h2>
Keats also told Motherboard that <a href="https://www.sierranevada.edu/event/exhibition-tahoe-timescape-project-jonathan-keats/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sierra Nevada College</a> has agreed to host an exhibition of the four photographs in the year 3018 — assuming the college and photos survive that long.
After all, the Millennium Cameras will be exposed to the elements, and there&#8217;s no telling how climate change might affect — or destroy — Lake Tahoe and the surrounding area over the next 1,000 years.
READ MORE: <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/43ee9m/this-camera-will-take-a-1000-year-photo-to-document-climate-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This Camera Will Take a 1,000-Year Photo to Document Climate Change</a> [Motherboard]
More on climate change: <a href="https://futurism.com/artificial-walls-archipelagos-polar-glaciers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">To Save Polar Glaciers, Scientists Recommend Ludicrous Schemes</a>

An “experimental philosopher” just announced a *very* forward-thinking project.

These four cameras will capture 1,000 years of climate change

Cognitive Prosthesis

An "experimental philosopher" plans to use four pinhole cameras to produce a 1,000-year exposure of Lake Tahoe to illustrated the effects of climate change.

These Cameras Will Capture 1,000 Years of Climate Change

Mark your calendars for the photo exhibition in the year 3018.

<h2>Worse Than Expected</h2>
What an alarming difference a few years can make.
According to a <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/report/sr15/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> released Sunday by the United Nations’ scientific panel on climate change, the 2015 Paris Agreement won&#8217;t be enough to stop the most serious damage from climate change.
“There is nothing opaque about this new data,&#8221; former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/oct/08/world-leaders-told-they-must-act-over-climate-change-cliff-edge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told The Guardian.</a> &#8220;The illustrations of mounting impacts, the fast-approaching and irreversible tipping points are visceral versions of a future that no policy-maker could wish to usher in or be responsible for.”
<h2>Worth the Effort</h2>
Limiting global temperature increases to fewer than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels — a cornerstone of the Paris Agreement — would have been hard. Now, it looks like we need to shoot for an even tougher limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) if we want to avoid an increase in famine, drought, extreme weather events, and the many other devastating consequences of climate change.
Jim Skea, a co-author of the report, said <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/session48/pr_181008_P48_spm_en.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in a press release</a> that &#8220;[l]imiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is possible within the laws of chemistry and physics, but doing so would require unprecedented changes.&#8221;
The report suggests several ways we could ensure we don&#8217;t exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) limit, and as <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/report-climate-change-unrealistic-tech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some experts feared</a> before the report&#8217;s release, they might not be entirely realistic. Huge carbon taxes will be politically unpopular in many nations, and while systems to capture carbon might work, the technology to implement them on the necessary scale simply doesn&#8217;t exist yet.
Still, while the situation outlined in the report is daunting, we can&#8217;t close our eyes and ears to it. We need to view this report as what it is: a wake-up call to the world that we must take immediate and bold action if we don&#8217;t want to find ourselves trying to live on an <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/hothouse-earth-paris-agreement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unlivable planet</a>.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/oct/08/world-leaders-told-they-must-act-over-climate-change-cliff-edge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Leaders Told They Must Act over Climate Change &#8216;Cliff-Edge&#8217;</a> [The Guardian]
More on the IPCC report: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/report-climate-change-unrealistic-tech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Experts Worry a Landmark Report on Climate Change Will Call for Unrealistic Tech</a>

This situation is dire, but we can address it.

Unless we make dramatic changes, we're headed for catastrophe, says new report

Oh, Boy

According to a new IPCC report, we need to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, not 2 degrees Celsius.

Report: Unless We Make Dramatic Changes, We’re Headed for Climate Catastrophe

There's no way to spin this.

FROM BAD TO WORSE. The bad news: Global warming is thawing Arctic permafrost. And that&#8217;s releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
The really bad news: It&#8217;s happening faster than we previously thought.
That&#8217;s the conclusion of a NASA-funded research project undertaken by researchers from the University of Alaska. They published their <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05738-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> in the journal Nature Communications on August 15.
SLOW AND STEADY, ABRUPT AND AWFUL. In the past, when a carbon-based life form — such as an animal or plant — died in the Arctic, it froze before it had time to decompose.
Now that temperatures in the region are <a href="https://futurism.com/crazy-high-arctic-temperatures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increasing</a>, however, microbes in the newly thawed Arctic soil are breaking down these previously frozen organic bodies. That releases carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.
Researchers already knew about this process, which they call &#8220;slow thawing,&#8221; and have been factoring it into their climate models for some time now. What they haven&#8217;t taken into consideration, though, is abrupt thawing.
SEEING IS BELIEVING. According to the NASA-funded study, abrupt thawing takes place under thermokarst lakes. When a significant amount of ice deep in the soil melts, the liquid water has less volume than the ice that previously occupied the space underground. That makes the land slump, making a depression that fills with the water to become a thermokarst lake. Once there&#8217;s a liquid lake, the soil around it thaws much more quickly than the typical slow thawing.
&#8220;Within decades you can get very deep thaw-holes, meters to tens of meters of vertical thaw,&#8221; first author Katey Walter Anthony said in <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2785/unexpected-future-boost-of-methane-possible-from-arctic-permafrost/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a NASA news release</a>. &#8220;So you’re flash thawing the permafrost under these lakes. And we have very easily measured ancient greenhouse gases coming out.&#8221;
You can see the gases bubbling up from beneath these lakes in a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2018/08/30/nasa-discovers-bubbling-lakes-in-the-remote-arctic-a-sign-of-global-warming/#626a1ae861f5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> released by NASA the same week as the study.
<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ujwfgKvSVPk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
JUST THE BEGINNING. Based on the researchers&#8217; calculations, abrupt thawing more than doubles our previous estimates of permafrost thaw&#8217;s contribution to greenhouse warming. The team also concluded that we really can&#8217;t do much to stop it — even if we reduce our carbon emissions, abrupt thawing will continue to release large stores of methane into the atmosphere.
It&#8217;s only going to get worse, too, according to Walter Anthony. &#8220;[Abrupt thaw is] already happening but it’s not happening at a really fast rate right now, but within a few decades, it should peak,&#8221; she said in the news release.
If there is any good news to take away from this research, it&#8217;s that we at least now know about abrupt thawing and can take it into account in our future climate predictions. But, admittedly, that &#8220;good&#8221; news isn&#8217;t all that great in the scheme of things.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2018/08/30/nasa-discovers-bubbling-lakes-in-the-remote-arctic-a-sign-of-global-warming/#626a1ae861f5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA Discovers Bubbling Lakes in the Remote Arctic — a Sign of Global Warming</a> [Forbes]
More on the Arctic: <a href="https://futurism.com/crazy-high-arctic-temperatures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Three Reasons Scientists Are Freaked out by Crazy-High Arctic Temperatures</a>

Abrupt thawing is throwing off our climate predictions.

Greenhouse gases are bubbling up from Arctic lakes that were recently frozen

Earth & Energy

NASA released a video illustrating the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere due to abrupt thawing in the Arctic.

/Global Warming