Researchers find that economic, emissions and population trends point to very small chance Earth will avoid warming more than 2C by century’s end.

John Sterman, an academic at the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, said the research was an “urgent call to action”. MIT research has shown that emissions cuts in the Paris agreement would stave off around 1C of temperature increase by 2100 – findings misrepresented by Trump when he announced the US departure from the pact.

Sterman said the US must “dramatically speed the deployment of renewable energy and especially energy efficiency. Fortunately, renewables, storage and other technologies are already cheaper than fossil energy in many places and costs are falling fast.

“More aggressive policies are urgently needed, but this study should not be taken as evidence that nothing can be done.”

Source: Planet has just 5% chance of reaching Paris climate goal, study says | Environment | The Guardian