In light of the IPCC report, experts are urging policymakers to act. A warming of 1.5 degrees could be reached as early as 2030 — ten years earlier than projected in 2018. Extreme weather events such as flooding and heatwaves are becoming more frequent. But experts warn that the wake-up call must be followed by action. Swift action is needed to slow this development.

For its report, the IPCC examined five scenarios as illustrative examples: two of them see the world achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and subsequently storing more CO2 than it emits. According to experts, only this approach could keep the rise in average temperature at 1.8 degrees or below by the end of this century.

However, if emissions remain at their current levels through to 2050, temperatures by the end of this century could be up to 3.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. In two further scenarios involving a doubling of current CO2 emissions by 2050, a temperature rise of up to 5.7 degrees would be possible. More on this at orf.at.

In the RADIOTHEK of Ö1 Journal um acht, you can listen to the interview "Regional measures alone are not enough" with IPCC report co-author Douglas Maraun (Wegener Center at the University of Graz).