“Our planet is rapidly approaching a tipping point that will make climate chaos irreversible. We are on our way to climate hell, but our foot is still on the gas pedal.” The outlook set out by António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, for COP27 is bleak to say the least. There are numbers. Not only did fossil CO2 emissions not decrease, but they increased by 1% in 2022 compared to the previous year. If we continue on the current trajectory, warming will be between +2.4°C and +2.8°C in 2100 compared to the pre-industrial era. However, exceeding +2°C will have cascading effects that are difficult to measure, scientists find (p. 42). But, as Paul Claudel wrote, “the worst is not always necessary.”
Alarming figures… but also solutions!
Climatologists are not content with the alarming numbers, they are also pointing to solutions that would do nothing but…reverse global warming (p. 46)! But who knows? In addition, this month Science et Avenir – La Recherche brings you a brand new piece of work: a review of the most effective levers to achieve this goal, sector by sector.
Tipping points, positive this time?
The good news is that we had no problem finding solutions that were well documented by scientists. The difficulty will be to make a choice to put forward those that will achieve positive tipping points this time, that is, able to bring about beneficial effects in the cascade. Investors say that their implementation will cost money, but these costs will pay off in the long run. This is where the work of a scientist, like a journalist, stops. The choice of action is the responsibility of the citizen and the politician. We just hope that reading our magazine each month will help you make better decisions.