The temperature of our planet has reached the highest level in 115,000 years.
A paper entitled "Young People's Burden: Requirement of Negative CO2 Emissions" by James Hansen, a former senior NASA climate scientist, and 11 other experts, claims the global temperature has just reached a level similar to that in the interglacial (Eemian) period, 115,000 to 130,000 years ago, when Earth's sea level was several meters higher than today.
As a result, glaciers and ice sheets are melting, the oceans are acidifying and rising seas will engulf coastal cities worldwide in the coming centuries.
"The assumption that young [people] will somehow figure out a way to undo the deeds of their forebears has crept into and spread like a cancer through United Nations climate scenarios," the paper states.
Research shows that the rapid rise of global temperature—beginning in around 1975—continues at a rate of about 0.18°C per decade. The growth rate of climate change, due to human-caused greenhouse gases, increased over 20 percent in the past decade.
The paper states that as global fossil fuels emissions are continuing at a high rate, a burden is being placed on young people to undertake "massive technological CO2 extraction."
Despite widespread recognition of the risks posed by climate change for decades, Hansen's paper claims $104 trillion to $570 trillion will be required to combat the problem over the coming century.
The paper was submitted as a discussion paper to the Earth System Dynamics journal.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
