“How fucked up are we? I get this all the time,” Dr. Deutsch said. “If we don’t do anything, we’re fucked.”
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Extreme heat. The heat wave has been sweeping India and Pakistan for weeks and is expected to intensify. The scorching weather is a reminder of what lies ahead in an era of climate change as hot flashes become more frequent, more dangerous and more lasting.
Nations are still far from taking the necessary steps to prevent catastrophic climate change. Last month, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the critical goal of limiting average global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial times was to “sustain life”.
The International Energy Agency, a group set up to ensure a stable global energy market, said last year that countries should immediately stop approving new fossil fuel projects. They did not stop, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine added to the calls for more drilling in the name of energy security.
In an interview with Dr. Deutsche and Penn said they felt like the ignored scientists in Don’t Look Up, a recent film in which a comet throwing itself into Earth is a metaphor for climate change. As in the movie, the planet is at a crucial moment, giving people living today tremendous power in determining the future.
“The great power has a great responsibility,” said Dr. Deutsch. “And we learn about our strength, but not about our responsibility – to future generations of people, but also to all the other lives with which we have shared the planet for millions of years.
Pippa Moore, a professor of marine science at the University of Newcastle in England who studies the effects of climate change on the ocean and was not involved in the study, called it comprehensive.
“This document adds to the vast amount of evidence that unless more is done to limit our greenhouse gas emissions, our marine systems are on track to see a huge change in where marine species live and, as shown in this document significant disappearances that may rival previous mass extinction events, “she said.
Brad Plummer contributed to the report.
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