Sonia I. Seneviratne - CANCELED

Date

11 March 2020

Host

Niklas Beisert

Title

Limiting Global Warming to 1.5°C:
Our Physical Insights on the Climate Emergency

Abstract

Subsequently to the 2015 Paris agreement, the UN-based Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2018 provided a special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emissions pathways. As a lead author of this report, I will provide background on the following:
a) Why are human-induced greenhouse gas emissions leading to global warming, and what are the underlying physical mechanisms?
b) What are the impacts associated with 1.5°C of global warming, and what are impacts that are avoided compared to a global warming of 2°C?
c) Can we still achieve the aims stated in the Paris agreement?
d) Is there a climate emergency and why?