Summary of Our Final Warning

Mark Lynas

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Rating

The rating – what does it mean?

At getAbstract, we summarize books* that help people understand the world and make it better. Whatever we select for our library has to excel in one or the other of these two core criteria:

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We rate each piece of content on a scale of 1–10 with regard to these two core criteria. Our rating helps you sort the titles on your reading list from solid (5) to brilliant (10). Books we rate below 5 won’t be summarized. Here's what the ratings mean:

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While the rating tells you how good a book is according to our two core criteria, it says nothing about its particular defining features. Therefore, we use a set of 20 qualities to characterize each book by its strengths:

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Controversial – You’ll be confronted with strongly debated opinions.
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Overview – You’ll get a broad treatment of the subject matter, mentioning all its major aspects.
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Qualities

Controversial
Concrete Examples
Hot Topic

Recommendation

The world’s mean temperature is now 1°C [1.8 °F] warmer than it was before the Industrial Revolution. That may not sound like much, but the rise has triggered unprecedented droughts, wildfires, the melting of glaciers and Arctic sea ice, and the decimation of coral reefs. Science journalist Mark Lynas outlines the degree-by-degree consequences of a continued warming, from the crop failures and food shortages of a 2°C [3.6 °F] rise to the mass extinctions at 6°C [10.8 °F].

About the Author

Journalist Mark Lynas is visiting fellow with the Alliance for Science at Cornell University. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Times and The Guardian.

Summary

The world is unlikely to meet the climate goals of the Paris Agreement.

In 2015, the UK’s meteorological service announced that the Earth was about to reach a “global mean temperature” 1°C [1.8 °F] above 19th-century levels. World leaders meeting in Paris pledged to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C [2.7 °F] over preindustrial levels – or, in the worst case, to 2°C [3.6 °F]. But in every year since the Paris Agreement signing, emission levels have set new records.

The one-degree rise means Greenland’s ice sheet is melting, drought and wildfires have devastated Australia and California, and hotter ocean waters are destroying coral reefs.

If current emission levels continue, the world’s mean temperature could rise to two degrees above preindustrial levels by 2030. At some point, powerful positive feedbacks will kick in, and a continued rise will prove unstoppable. An increase of six degrees above the preindustrial global temperature could end life on Earth.