Actual headline: ‘Is Paris treaty all that stands between us and mass extinction?’
Author Elizabeth Kolbert says fear, not morality, could impel people to act: “Fear is a very good motivator,” Kolbert said. “And if people are afraid that their kids are not going to have a future, they can be motivated.”
“We are already seeing the impact. We’re already seeing Antarctica start to go, and we aren’t even at 2 degrees yet,” Kolbert said. “Two degrees was always an arbitrary point. We are probably going to go over 2 degrees, but we can’t give up because that would mean an even greater level of disaster.”
“The word on the street is that it’s very likely some sort of agreement will come out of Paris,” Kolbert said. “It will be hailed – perhaps rightly – as a watershed moment. But the defining question is: when do we see global emissions actually start to drop? Is Paris a success if emissions continue to rise for 10, 20 or 30 years?”
