Australias Chief Scientist Prof Penny D Sackett on Wednesday said nations must think of 2015 as the peak for emission if the Earth is to remain within a 2 degree temperature rise from pre-industrialisation levels. The clock is ticking loudly for the world. If we wait until 2020 to turn over the annual emissions curve from increasing every year to decreasing,we will need to either clip global emissions by a hefty 9 per cent per year,or prepare ourselves for a considerably warmer and more severe world, she said. Already we have committed our future to one in which the global average temperature will be 1.3 degrees higher than in pre-industrial times even if everyone on the face of the Earth stops emitting greenhouse gases tomorrow. At the 2 degree level our carbon budget from 2000 to 2050 was around 1000 billion tonnes. We have already spent a third of that in 10 years. The quicker we start,the faster we learn, she told The Indian Express. At Copenhagen we have to concentrate on reaching a consensus on the precise mechanism to achieve this goal. Prof Sackett said though there is nothing that binds us to the 2 degree level,things will only worsen if we exceed it. And this will not be in a linear pattern. It will get much worse,but faster, she warned. Temperature rises beyond 2 degrees will result in a world that will be difficult,dangerous and divisive. Incidentally,Australia finds itself in the forefront of the fight against climate change despite one of the smallest overall emission levels due to its very high per capita emission figures. At an individual level every Australian has the opportunity to make a significant change, she said.
