Global Scientist Coalition Delivers Climate Warning

By Nicholas Gerbis
Published: Tuesday, November 5, 2019 - 8:04am

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Forest Service photo by Gaule/Jones
On July 23, 2018, the Carr Fire ignited in Redding,California, destroying homes and displacing families. Rising temperatures, drought and wind conditions linked to climate change are contributing to larger, more hazardous fires that cost more to fight.

It’s been 40 years since the First World Climate Conference and more than 30 years since the first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, yet climate change continues unabated. A new paper seeks to amplify the alarm.

A global coalition of more than 11,000 scientists from 153 countries — 16 of them from Arizona universities — has issued a "warning of climate emergency" in the journal BioScience.

The article says "untold human suffering" will occur unless humans make deep and lasting shifts in their activities.

Among the recommendations: massive energy conservation and reduction in fossil fuels and short-lived pollutants like methane and soot; ecosystem restoration to expand carbon sequestration; a shift away from animal product consumption; conversion to a carbon-free economy; and stabilization of global population.

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