Thanks in no small part to the fossil-fueled cult of obstructionism, we’re on track to blow past the 1.5 degrees Celsius global-warming threshold laid out in the 2016 Paris Agreement. Without sweeping change, we can expect “more melting ice, higher sea levels, more heatwaves and other extreme weather,” per the World Meteorological Organization. And that’ll only be the beginning.
The scientific community has made its demands clear, but emissions are still rising, politicians are failing to act, and the oil industry is getting richer. It’s all horribly distressing, and that’s why I doubt you’ll blame me for blurting out, “How doomed are we?” the moment I sat down with renowned climate modeling expert William Collins at TC Sessions: Climate.
Collins met my question with nuance. “I think we are starting to see governments get quite serious about addressing climate change,” he said, and pointed us toward national and international assessments that dig into this topic at length.
Collins directs Berkeley Lab’s Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division and its Carbon Negative Initiative. He’s also a lead author of several Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments. (Full video of the included session below.)