Here’s why you should believe in net-zero.
You can’t keep putting on more and more overcoats without getting too warm. Carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is exactly the same. Greenhouse gases, like overcoats, work by making it harder for heat to escape. You can’t keep adding more and more without our planet getting too warm.
Getting to net zero, whether overcoats or carbon dioxide, is therefore not optional. At some point you can’t add more without dangerous overheating. The only question is “when?” At what point do we have to stop adding overcoats? At what point do we have to stop adding carbon dioxide?
Climate scientists have an answer for carbon dioxide—as soon as possible and by 2050 at the latest. The best place to find the evidence for this is in the IPCC reports which summarize the conclusions of thousands of scientific publications.