A group of climate change researchers from around the globe says the world has three years to turn the tide on emissions or it might face a climate disaster.
The warning comes ahead of the G20 summit Germany next month, during which the group urges discussion of measures to combat climate change, according to Time. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that climate change and the Paris Agreement will be topics of discussion.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced in June that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Agreement, so the summit could become confrontational if the topics do come to the forefront, Time noted. The group did note that states and municipalities were acting independently of the federal government to reduce their emissions, whether or not the U.S. remained part of the Paris Agreement.
The group of climate change researchers, which calls itself Mission 2020, published a commentary in Nature magazine to bring attention to the warning. Group member Christiana Figueres, who penned the article, noted that global emissions have leveled off over the past three years, the first time leveling off has taken place when world economies have been stable or growing.
If the world can see its carbon emissions peak no later than 2020, the group stated, it will be possible to meet Paris Agreement goals of no more than 1.5 to 2 degree warming by 2100, Time reported.
Not everyone agrees with Mission 2020’s assertions, however. The Danish Meteorological Institute released information in May showing that global temperatures have been plummeting since the El Nino weather pattern ended in December, and predicted a cooling trend over the next several decades, according to the UK Telegraph.