Global warming: why the 2 ℃goal is a political delusion

摘要

The papers by Malte Meinshausen and colleagues ('Greenhouse-gas emission targets for limiting global warming to 2 ℃ Nature 458,1158-1162; 2009) and by Myles Allen and colleagues ('Warming caused by cumulative carbon emissions towards the trillionth tonne' Nature 458,1163-1166; 2009) suggest that society could limit global warming below the widely discussed goal of 2 ℃ by adopting a cumulative budget for carbon emissions. Although they do underscore the difficulties, their prescriptions are only marginally relevant for policy design.