Met Office study details climate change ranges
October 6, 2008
A new study undertaken by the Met Office has found that, in order to avoid the effects of climate change, drastic action is needed worldwide to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within two years.
According to the Met Office's Hadley Centre, a 3% annual reduction in global emissions from 2010 offers the only realistic possibility of avoiding a global temperature rise of more than 2°C. That kind of temperature increase is widely accepted as the threshold beyond which the impacts of drought and sea level rises would present a significant risk.
The Met Office's report presents scenarios and their consequences, in terms of global warming by the year 2100, such as:
- do nothing - global temperature rise of 5.5–7.1°C by 2100
- act late and slowly, ie do nothing prior to 2030 - global temperature rise of 4–5.2°C by 2100
- act early, but slowly, ie act slowly from 2010 - global temperature rise of 2.9–3.8°C by 2100
- act early and rapidly from 2010 - global temperature rise of 2.1°C–2.8°C by 2100
The report points out that, initially at least, the UK and other developed countries would have to bear the responsibility for such deep reductions in emissions.
Significant and far-reaching changes would be needed to bring this about, such as rapid uptake of community renewable energy, the use of wave and tide power, improvements in public transport, major shifts in travel habits in favour of cycling and walking, and changes in diet. There would also be great pressure on the UK to abandon its plans for new coal-fired power stations and a third runway at Heathrow.
At the time of going to press, the Government has recognised the significance of climate change by creating a new department as part of the cabinet re-shuffle for climate and energy.
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