Climate Change

Effects of climate change include higher temperatures, increases in precipitation patterns, rising sea levels, weather-related natural disasters, increased drought and decreased food security.¹ The annual global temperature, or Earth’s average surface temperature, has increased 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degrees Celsius) since the 1880s. Two-thirds of that increase has occurred since 1975.² Over 36 million kilotons of CO2 were emitted in 2014.³ Emissions in 2018 are projected to increase by 2.7 percent compared to a 1.6 percent rise in 2017 — emission rates had not increased in three years.⁴ China and the United States each produce about a third of the world’s carbon emissions.⁵ As of 2018, oil use continues to rise globally, as it has for five consecutive years.⁶ The 1997 Kyoto Protocol was an international agreement intended to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but many nations failed to hold to the protocol’s standards. In 2018, the Paris Agreement was signed by over 200 nations with the purpose of preventing global temperatures from reaching a 3.6 degree Fahrenheit increase (2.0 degrees Celsius), and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to a rate where they can be naturally absorbed by the environment — all between 2050 and 2100. Under the Paris Agreement, developed nations agreed to subsidize the efforts of developing nations to meet the standards of the agreement and begin using more renewable energy sources. Progress will be reviewed every five years.⁷⁸