Energy Agency Warns Of 6°C Rise In Temperatures

From New Scientist Environment:

Our voracious appetite for energy is potentially putting the planet on the path for a 6°C rise in temperatures – which is far more than what climate specialists say the environment can cope with.

In its 2008 World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency says the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit will have to set ambitious carbon-limiting caps and that the energy sector must play a key role in making this possible.

European policy-makers have set themselves the goal of keeping temperature rises below 2°C relative to what they were before the industrial revolution. Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its forecasts of how rises between 1°C and 5°C would change the environment (see table in Climate hange is here now, says major report). A rise of 6°C was off the charts.

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