A new study from the University of Western Ontario warns that we could be risking the lives of 1 billion people, mostly in poorer areas, if we don’t tackle climate change seriously.
Joshua Pearce, the lead author of the study, says if the Earth’s temperature rises by two degrees Celsius or more by the year 2100, this could be a disaster.
Big companies in the oil and gas industry are a major part of the problem.
They contribute to more than 40% of harmful carbon emissions, affecting people all around the world, especially in places with fewer resources.
The study says we urgently need to take strong steps to reduce these emissions.
Governments, businesses, and everyday people need to work together to speed up the switch from fossil fuels to clean energy.
If we don’t, we are looking at a very dangerous future, especially for our kids.
Joshua Pearce and his co-author, Richard Parncutt, looked at many scientific papers and found a rule of thumb called the “1,000-ton rule.”
According to this rule, burning 1,000 tons of fossil fuels could lead to one future death.
Pearce says that numbers like “megawatts” or “parts per million of carbon dioxide” might sound complicated, but “body count” is something everyone understands.
If we keep adding up the numbers, we could face 1 billion early deaths in the next 100 years due to climate change. So we must act, and we must act fast.
The study outlines four main ways to fix this:
Use energy more wisely and efficiently in factories, farms, cars, homes, and daily life, with the help of government programs.
Stop using harmful fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas, and switch to clean energy sources like wind, solar, and hydro-power.
Develop new ways to manage carbon waste and capture carbon dioxide from the air.
Replace support for fossil fuels with taxes on carbon emissions.
Pearce hopes that by talking about climate change in terms of lives at risk, more leaders will get the message and take urgent action.
Pearce says we can’t ignore the truth anymore: climate change can be deadly. As we learn more about how our actions affect the planet, we can’t deny the damage we’re causing, especially to future generations.
And since every human life is precious, we must speed up our efforts to fight climate change, starting now.
The study makes it clear that we don’t have time to waste. Although predicting the exact number of lives at risk is difficult, one thing is certain: we need to take immediate action to stop global warming and save lives.
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