The warning is stark, but how many of us are listening?

Source: Nature

According to Nature, one of the most respected global scientific journals has published research about how much more of Earth's fossil fuels we can extract and burn in the short- to medium-term future and still avoid severe global warming.

It casts a fascinating lens over the political dilemma that we face between short-term economic stability and the long-term greater good. If we are to stay within a 2-degree carbon budget - a target established by the United Nations - countries will have to leave 80 percent of coal, 50 percent of gas and 33 percent of global oil untouched until at least 2050.

These conclusions are in line with previous estimates by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency. 

The greatest minds of our species keep reminding us with increasing doom in their tones that we are playing with fire. We live in hope that our leaders will be united in their response.

Politics is politics and thankfully in California we have progressive leaders like Gov. Jerry Brown and Mayor Eric Garcetti who are committed to setting new standards and making our state the torchbearer of renewable energy in the US. 

Individually, we must lead by example. We consume so much energy that we must be responsible for our own habits. Turning off lights once we leave a room, car-pooling to work, make your showers quick. We can even go more deeply into sustainable measures like installing renewable systems and budget our consumption in peak hours. Crucially, all of these simple steps save us money too. We just need to pay attention and reap the rewards, individually and collectively.

Either way, it is another significant reminder that we must all do our bit.

Jonathan Caizley
CTO and co-founder of Sunistics

See the full story here: 
How much fuel we need to leave buried to beat climate change