Released by: U.S. PIRG Education Fund Release date: Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Global warming is the existential challenge of our time, threatening lives, livelihoods and the future of the planet. Wildfires, extreme storms and other impacts of global warming are already causing devastation around the world. Those impacts will only become more dramatic over time unless we move to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions immediately and dramatically.
To prevent the worst impacts of global warming, the United States must achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that world carbon emissions must reach net zero around 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5°C over preindustrial levels – the level beyond which catastrophic climate changes could occur.[i]