“I think the key point is that doesn't mean game over. That doesn't mean we're flipped into a world, and to a point of no return.”
**🌍 The 1.5°C Climate Goal Might Be Slipping Away — But It’s Not Game Over**
The once-ambitious goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C? It’s likely no longer within reach, says a climate expert. But that’s not a reason to give up. Every fraction of a degree matters — and fighting for 1.6, 1.7, or 1.8°C still means reducing risk, damage, and loss.
The Paris Agreement aimed to keep temperatures "well below 2°C" and ideally at 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. While 1.5°C now seems nearly impossible due to the sheer scale of emissions cuts required, staying under 2°C is *still* feasible — *if* countries hit their current targets.
What needs to change? Four key sectors:
**1. Energy** – Replace fossil fuels with low-carbon sources like solar, wind, geothermal, and especially **nuclear**, which has the *lowest land footprint*.
**2. Transport** – Shift to electric where possible, using decarbonized electricity.
**3. Food** – Reform agriculture, which uses *half* of all habitable land.
**4. Construction** – Build greener, more sustainable infrastructure.
The shift to renewables is now *economically viable*, with solar and wind already cheaper than coal or gas in many places. Land use fears? Overblown. Solar needs <1% of global land; even wind’s impact is mostly *visual*, not physical — and farming can continue around turbines. Nuclear, meanwhile, needs just 0.1% of land to power the world.
🌱 **The message is clear**: We may not hit 1.5°C, but every bit of progress still counts. The climate fight isn’t all or nothing — it’s a long game where every decimal degree saved can mean lives, ecosystems, and futures protected.
About Hannah Ritchie:
Dr. Hannah Ritchie is Senior Researcher in the Programme for Global Development at the University of Oxford. She is also Deputy Editor and Lead Researcher at Our World in Data. Her research appears regularly in the New York Times, The Economist, and the Financial Times, and in bestselling books including Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now. She is the author of Not the End of the World.
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