The planet is warming. The scientific consensus on this is as strong as it gets in any field of inquiry: over 97% of climate scientists agree that current warming is primarily caused by human activity. The main driver is the burning of fossil fuels — coal, oil and natural gas — which releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere.
What is already happening
Average global temperatures are approximately 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels. This sounds modest but the effects are not: more intense hurricanes, longer droughts, more powerful wildfires, accelerating sea level rise, and the disruption of agricultural systems that billions depend on. The Arctic is warming four times faster than the global average.
The 1.5°C target
The Paris Agreement set a target of limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. To achieve this, global greenhouse gas emissions need to be roughly halved by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. Current national commitments put us on track for approximately 2.5-3°C — enough to cause severe disruption to human civilization as currently organized.
What can actually be done
The good news is that the technology for a clean energy transition exists: solar and wind power are now the cheapest sources of new electricity generation in most of the world. The challenge is political and economic — unwinding fossil fuel subsidies, modernizing grids, and managing the transition for communities that depend on carbon-intensive industries.
