Back in 2019 - there were 71 counties in the U.S. that already have passed 2°C. In 2021 the IPCC graphed scenarios of the global average temperature at the end of the century based on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced over the next several decades.
The takeaway: The world has warmed 1.1°C compared to preindustrial levels, and regional hot spots already feel the heat, but we have not surpassed the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C.
Climate scientist and IPCC Working Group I cochair Valérie Masson-Delmotte said that the midlevel emissions scenario most closely resembles the pledges made by countries to plateau emissions until around 2030. The highest emissions scenarios represent futures without any climate mitigation.
To achieve the two socioeconomic pathways that remain below 2°C it would require world emissions to reach net zero and carbon neutrality by mid-to-late century. This graph reinforces that keeping warming below 2°C, and perhaps even 1.5°C, is still a possibility through the implementation of immediate and sustained actions to cut emissions.
Immediate planning for carbon reduction strategies are realistic for many large carbon producers using Power Purchase Agreements, we have the tools, corporate leaders need to exert their will.