We're Going to Miss the 1.5°C Climate Target. Now What?
Grades9, 10, 11, 12Earth and Space Sciences
What it is
This article explains why missing the 1.5 °C warming target in the Paris Agreement is serious but does not make climate action futile.
Organized as a series of questions and answers, it concludes that every fraction of a degree of avoided warming matters.
Teaching tips
Prerequisites:
Ensure students are familiar with climate change and its impacts.
Consider providing background on the Paris Agreement.
Classroom Implementation:
Use this article to generate hope for students who are learning about the current climate reality.
Extensions:
Have students identify the author's central claim, the evidence for each answer, and how the smoking analogy supports the argument.
Scientist's Note:
Corrects a number of common misconceptions about climate change, most notably the ‘magic number’ fallacy of 1.5°C warming as a binary cliff with certain doom above and safety below.
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