Study: Worst warming impacts avoidable if …

Hope seen with 70 percent emissions cut, catastrophe under ‘as is’ scenario

WASHINGTON – So what would the world’s temperatures, and the planet, look like in 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions continued as is? And if they were cut by 70 percent?

Researchers at a well-known climate center asked those questions and used a computer model to conclude that it’d be catastrophic if unchecked, but manageable if the world could reduce gases by that much.

“This research indicates that we can no longer avoid significant warming during this century,” Warren Washington, the study’s lead author, said in a statement. “But if the world were to implement this level of emission cuts, we could stabilize the threat of climate change and avoid catastrophe.”

The computer simulation by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., projected that unchecked levels would mean an Earth 4 degrees warmer. But a 70 percent emissions cut would limit the increase to about 2 degrees, the study found.

Other projections if emissions were cut by 70 percent:

MSNBC