Meeting the target for global warming established by the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, will require a more than 8% decline in carbon emissions by 2020 as compared to 2010 levels, says a new study published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change and reported by Agence France Presse. This target must be met to limit warming to about 4 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels, according to the study. Many scientists believe that beyond a 4 degree limit, humanity would be subjected to an unsafe level of global warming. Given this objective, the study scientists revisited computer models and ran them under scenarios that were likely to achieve this target. The results indicate that global emissions would have to peak before 2020, decline 8.5% by 2020, and continue to decline thereafter. Other scientists caution that even the 4 degree limit does not guarantee safety. Indeed, many scientists are already seeing perceptible changes to snow and ice cover, habitat, and reproductive patterns by migrating species as a result of existing warming, a rise of roughly 2° Fahrenheit since 1900.
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Climate goal needs 8.5% carbon cut. Meeting the target for global warming enshrined in the 2009 Copenhagen Accord will require carbon emissions to decline by more than 8% by 2020 compared to 2010 and then continue their fall, a study said on Sunday. Agence France-Presse
Temperature targets slipping away: Study. The international community will not meet agreed temperature targets unless it puts the brakes on current levels of carbon emissions now, warn climate scientists. Australia ABC News
Climate Change Reports 