--- title: What Humanity Must Do to Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change description: The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned of catastrophic warming without "unprecedented changes in all aspects of society." canonical: https://time.com/5418577/what-humanity-do-limit-climate-change/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-08T23:19:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T17:09:23.000Z article:section: Science og:title: Here's What Humanity Must Do Immediately to Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change og:description: 1. Plant new forests the size of Canada by 2050 og:url: https://time.com/5418577/what-humanity-do-limit-climate-change/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f68846d05aa9326/69893c1e7cdbac5912d5e202/climate-change-report-united-nations.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Lignite-Fired Power Station og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's What Humanity Must Do Immediately to Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change twitter:description: 1. Plant new forests the size of Canada by 2050 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f68846d05aa9326/69893c1e7cdbac5912d5e202/climate-change-report-united-nations.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's What Humanity Must Do Immediately to Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change, According to the New U.N. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=62ead148-9274-4425-a627-3f95c364cb37&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Ideas: Science Is Too Important To Be Silenced In The Trump Era [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Ideas: Science Is Too Important To Be Silenced In The Trump Era](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4dGVBI9w.m3u8) (2:17)  _Published 2018-10-10. TIME spoke with Dr. Jonathan Foley, an environmental scientist and outspoken defender of science in the age of Trump._  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 12, 2023 5:09 PM UTCPublished: Oct 8, 2018 11:19 PM UTC Climate scientists have understood for decades that unchecked, man-made global warming will wreak havoc on human civilization.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 12, 2023 5:09 PM UTCPublished: Oct 8, 2018 11:19 PM UTC A landmark United Nations report on Monday warned that sufficiently [limiting man-made global warming](http://time.com/5418134/ipcc-climate-change-report-2030-crisis/) will “require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society” in order to avoid dramatic global consequences, including rising sea levels, dying coral reefs and human casualties due to extreme heat. The [special report](http://www.ipcc.ch/report/sr15/) — published Monday by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — assessed what it will take to limit global temperature increase to no more than 2.7º F (1.5º C) above preindustrial levels, in accordance with the [2015 Paris Agreement](http://time.com/5195459/climate-change-trump-paris-agreement-patricia-espinosa/). Scientists consider that temperature to be a tipping point at which many severe effects of global warming will be realized. “Examples of actions include shifting to low- or zero-emission power generation, such as renewables; changing food systems, such as diet changes away from land-intensive animal products; electrifying transport and developing ‘green infrastructure’, such as building green roofs, or improving energy efficiency by smart urban planning, which will change the layout of many cities,” the [report said](http://report.ipcc.ch/sr15/pdf/sr15%5Ffaq.pdf). The report called climate change “an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet,” and warned that delayed action would make it impossible to limit warming to 2.7º F. “While the pace of change that would be required to limit warming to \[2.7º F\] can be found in the past, there is no historical precedent for the scale of the necessary transitions, in particular in a socially and economically sustainable way,” the report stated. “Resolving such speed and scale issues would require people’s support, public-sector interventions and private-sector cooperation.” Here are some of the changes that will need to be made in order to stop the current pace of global warming: ## Reduce carbon emissions by 45% By 2030, global carbon dioxide emissions must be 45% less than they were in 2010, the report found. And carbon dioxide emissions must reach net zero around 2075 **—** meaning the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere equals the amount being removed. By 2050, emissions of other heat-trapping greenhouse gasses, including methane and black carbon, should be reduced by 35%, relative to the 2010 rate. “Emissions would need to decline rapidly across all of society’s main sectors, including buildings, industry, transport, energy, and agriculture, forestry and other land use,” the report said. The United States — which has [contributed more to carbon pollution](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/01/climate/us-biggest-carbon-polluter-in-history-will-it-walk-away-from-the-paris-climate-deal.html) than any other country in history — emitted 5.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2010, [according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration](https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/state/analysis/pdf/stateanalysis.pdf). If the United States followed the report’s 45% goal, it would have 12 years to decrease annual emissions by more than 2.5 billion metric tons. In 2017, global energy-related carbon emissions [rose to a record high](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-energy-carbon-iea/global-carbon-emissions-hit-record-high-in-2017-idUSKBN1GY0RB). ## Scrub carbon dioxide from the air In addition to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, the report recommended carbon dioxide removal measures — including planting new trees and carbon capture and storage, a process by which carbon dioxide is trapped and prevented from entering the atmosphere. “Most current and potential \[carbon dioxide removal\] measures could have significant impacts on land, energy, water, or nutrients if deployed at large scale,” the report said. ## Use 85% renewable energy and stop using coal entirely The report recommended far-reaching changes to land use, urban planning, infrastructure systems and energy use — changes that will be “unprecedented in terms of scale.” Climate scientists said renewable energy sources will have to account for 70% to 85% of electricity production by 2050\. The use of coal should decrease steeply and should account for close to 0% of global electricity, and gas just 8%. “While acknowledging the challenges, and differences between the options and national circumstances, political, economic, social and technical feasibility of solar energy, wind energy and electricity storage technologies have substantially improved over the past few years,” the report [stated](http://report.ipcc.ch/sr15/pdf/sr15%5Fspm%5Ffinal.pdf). “These improvements signal a potential system transition in electricity generation.” ## **Plant new forests equal to the size of Canada** Scientists recommend that up to about 3 million square miles of pasture and up to 1.9 million square miles of non-pasture agricultural land be converted into up to 2.7 million square miles for energy crops, which can be used to make biofuels. That would amount to land a little less than the size of Australia. The report also recommends adding 3.9 million square miles of forests by 2050, relative to 2010 — which is roughly the size of Canada. “Such large transitions pose profound challenges for sustainable management of the various demands on land for human settlements, food, livestock feed, fibre, bioenergy, carbon storage, biodiversity and other ecosystem services,” the report stated. “Mitigation options limiting the demand for land include sustainable intensification of land use practices, ecosystem restoration and changes towards less resource-intensive diets.” **Correction: Oct. 9** _The original version of this story misstated the size of additional forest that must be planted, according to a U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. It is 3.9 million square miles, not 3.9 square miles._ ## Transcript [00:01] [ MUSIC ] People talk about a kind of war on science, I [00:05] don't sometimes like that word, but it is accurate, [00:08] unfortunately. This administration has targeted certain [00:11] areas of science, especially around the environment, [00:14] especially around public health. Things that clearly have a [00:17] kind of economic, financial, and political undertone to [00:20] them, that favors some people who supported this [00:23] administration. And that's unfortunate, because that means [00:26] it's attacking things that are really protecting all Americans [00:29] and protecting the most vulnerable. Protecting our [00:31] environment, protecting our future and those things are [00:33] crucial to the country's success [ UNKNOWN ] in the long [00:36] term. [ MUSIC ] Interestingly, [00:42] you don't see the scientists in the Pentagon who work on [00:44] new missile systems being censored, they're fine. They're [00:47] travel expenses are covered, everybody's good. But when [00:50] suddenly it's about climate change or health, or other [00:53] contentious issues, suddenly they're not allowed to speak. [00:56] Not allowed to go to conferences. And there's really well [00:59] documented evidence that a third of the scientists of the [01:02] EPA, half the scientists of the Park Service, were told not to [01:05] use the word climate change anymore. That's crazy! [01:08] Climate is changing, it's like not using the word gravity or [01:13] something. That's crazy to do that. I don't really care what [01:17] kind of politics you have or what you listen to on the radio. I [01:20] don't know a single American who stands up and says, I [01:23] am pro censorship. I think other voices should [01:27] always be silenced. I don't know anybody who truly [01:29] believes that. And so I think when we kinda remember our [01:32] roots as an American people Things like censoring people [01:35] who you find inconvenient. Nobody really believes that's a [01:39] good idea. And when you see science being silenced, you [01:43] know that that's a bad idea. So scientists are really [01:46] concerned but, if you really listen to them, they're not [01:49] concerned about their grant dollars or about their Labs they [01:53] were talking about the work that they do. That they want to [01:56] do to serve the world around them. This is why people go [01:59] into science this is why people become medical [02:01] researchers, environmental scientists, people who work at [02:04] the EPA. They're not doing this for money are you kidding [02:07] me. They're doing it because they care. They do it because [02:10] they want to serve their country and that's the best way [02:11] they can do that. 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