Small island nations: Temperature goal is a matter of survival

Associated Press

PARIS

In climate math, the difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees is much greater than 0.5.

Small nations say that for them, that half-degree could mean the difference between life and death. For larger nations, the question is what’s realistic and what’s not when it comes to limiting global warming.

The broader issue is how much warming is too much. In 2010, international negotiators formally adopted a goal of limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial times; Earth already has warmed nearly 1 degree.

The warming goal is what experts call a guardrail, and it has the potential to derail the climate talks going on in Paris if negotiators can’t agree on a number.

Small island nations – such as the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and St. Lucia – and some other countries are pushing 1.5 because they see it as an issue of survival. They talk about sea-level rise inundating cities, salt water killing off crops and more- dangerous storms wiping out cities.

“It’s a fight that really should not be focused on numbers, 1.5, 2, 2.5,” said James Fletcher, St. Lucia’s minister for sustainable development, energy, science and technology. “It should be focused on lives. We’re not fighting for numbers, we’re fighting for lives.”

Climate scientists say both numbers are a bit arbitrary, but keeping warming to 1.5 degrees could increase the chance of survival for coral reefs, slow the rise in the number of ever-increasing severe weather disasters, and help keep the planet from hitting dreaded but so far unseen tipping points of irreversible environmental damage.