Your editorial in the Dec. 6 Sunday Telegram, “Climate report sets right goals for Maine,” suggests that the adoption of the Climate Council’s strategies and “reasonable planning” can help us ward off catastrophic climate impacts. I wish it were so.
While these strategies are commendable and groundbreaking, it must be understood that the State’s long term goal of 80% greenhouse gas reductions by 2050 is not compatible with capping the average global rise in temperature at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels (as urged by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). Rather, it will lead us to a ” two degree world” or higher, with “dire consequences.” A half degree or more may not seem like much, but climate impacts are exponentially related to global temperatures.
Furthermore, only capping emissions to reduce climate impacts ignores what scientists refer to as “climate change’s dirty little secret:” because carbon dioxide in the atmosphere doesn’t dissipate quickly, the planet’s ice sheets will continue to melt and sea levels will eventually rise to those that prevailed at similar temperatures millions of years ago during the Eocene Epoch, i.e., about 40 feet.
So we have a two part challenge: (1) rapidly transition (by 2035) to renewable energy and adopt other comprehensive and transformative measures to stabilize the global air temperature at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and (2) begin to scrub the atmosphere of excess carbon dioxide. Both will require a massive commitment by governments, worldwide. Otherwise, we condemn our grandchildren to a cruel climate fate.
Joe Hardy
Wells
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