The majority of climate scientists advising the Cop26 summit fear the world is on course to warm by a ‘catastrophic’ 3C.
Nearly two-thirds of scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, (IPCC), who responded to a survey, said that they expected the planet’s temperature to rise by this amount.
The survey shows that people are skeptical that governments will significantly slow down global warming, despite the promises made by leaders under the 2015 Paris climate accord.
The scientists’ grim outlook is revealed as the international community descends upon Glasgow for the Cop26 Climate Summit. The summit aims at keeping global heating to 1.5C above preindustrial levels.
Only 4 percent of the scientists believed that the world would achieve the goal of limiting the global warming to 1.5C.
The latest IPCC climate science report, which was approved by 195 countries, found that fossil fuel emissions are causing global changes. This is a threat to people and the ecosystems we rely upon for our food and other resources.
The anonymous survey was conducted by Nature journal and included 233 authors who were part of the IPCC working groups.
The participation of the 92 scientists did not represent the IPCC.
Sixty percent said they expected the world to heat by at least 3C by 2050, compared with pre-industrial times.
The latest IPCC climate-science reports, which were approved by 195 governments, concluded fossil fuel emissions are causing planetary changes (file photo).
And 88 per cent said the world was experiencing a ‘climate crisis’, while nearly as many said they expected to see catastrophic impacts of climate change in their lifetime.
Over two fifths (41%) of respondents said that global warming has made them reconsider major life decisions like where they live and 17% said it has made them reconsider whether or not to have children.
Three fifths (61%) of those surveyed said they had experienced anxiety, grief, or any other distress as a result of climate change concerns.