Watson Senior Fellow Deborah Gordon co-authored an article highlighting the urgent need to address both CO2 and methane emissions to mitigate the immediate impacts of global warming.
Scientists now expect Earth’s temperature to surpass the agreed upon 1.5ºC safety threshold as soon as 2027. Climate change is no longer a problem for future generations. It is our crisis to manage — now. As the planet heats up, climate change is increasingly unleashing superstorms, historic floods, wildfires, relentless heat, and infectious diseases. The next five years is a critical timeframe when it will likely be determined when, by how much, and for how long Earth overshoots the 1.5ºC guardrail. When there is no time to waste, there are actions we can already take now to put the odds in our favor. We can begin by looking at the two biggest drivers of warming — methane and carbon dioxide — and seeking dual metrics and separate targets.