Limiting global warming to 1.5 to 2.0°C—A unique and necessary role for health professionals
In the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, 195 nations agreed to work together to hold the rise in global temperature to "well below 2 degrees Celsius." Recent research by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggested the need for an even more ambitious goal: limiting the warming to 1.5C to avert the considerable risks to human health, livelihoods, food and water supplies, security, and economic growth that are likely with 2C of warming [1]. Unfortunately, the emission reduction commitments made thus far under the Paris Climate Agreement are grossly insufficient to hold global warming to 2C, much less to 1.5C [2].