Leave 60% global oil, gas reserves unused to curb warming to 1.5 degrees: Study
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The most of the planet’s fossil fuel reserves need to stay unused to help the world meet the climate targets, a new study, which was published in the journal ‘Nature’, has found. It said 60 per cent of oil and natural gas and 90 per cent of coal must stay underground till 2050 to have a chance to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius
Climate change is real and the world needs to act now before it’s too late. A new study has found out that if the world needs to meet the ambitious climate targets, the majority of the planet’s fossil fuel reserves must stay in the ground.
The study in the journal ‘Nature’ said that 60 per cent of oil and natural gas and 90 per cent of coal must never see light of the day till 2050 to make attempts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
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At a press conference while announcing the results, Dan Welsby, a researcher at University College London and lead author of the study, said, “These results are broadly consistent with the findings of numerous recent reports, from the United Nations, the International Energy Agency and others, which have all provided evidence that dramatic cuts in fossil fuel production are required immediately in order to move towards limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees.”
Under the Paris climate agreement, the nations are trying to keep global temperatures under two degrees Celsius of their preindustrial levels and within 1.5 degrees Celsius if at all possible.