When Action Slowed Climate Change (And Can Again)

Humans Already Slowed The Climate Crisis Once, New Research Shows

9 December 2019 (ScienceAlert)

“…[Regulations on emissions of an ozone-destroying class of greenhouse gas called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) reduced projected global temperatures for 2050 by] at least one degree Celsius…[That one degree is far from trivial] when a projected rise of just two degrees in coming decades could return us to a climate that hasn't been seen in several million years, along with a host of devastating consequences…[New research on the 1989 Montreal Protocol that led to CFC regulations showed the Montreal Protocol was] a success story worth celebrating…

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In spite of a handful of rogues still pumping out pollutants, the protocol signed in Montreal is now regarded as a perfect example of what humanity can achieve when it puts a sustainable future ahead of business profits…[If not for action on the ozone hole, climate crisis-inducing] greenhouse gases would have ended up pushing Arctic temperatures up by as much as 4 degrees by mid this century…But the task ahead of us is unlike anything we've seen before. Compared to our taste for ozone-depleting chemicals, our hunger for fossil fuels is ravenous…The stakes have never been greater…[but the Montreal Protocol demonstrates superbly that international treaties to limit greenhouse gas emissions really do work…” click here for more

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