Why Solving Climate Change Is Not an Issue Where We ‘Succeed or Fail’

A climate reporter explains the findings of a distressing report and why the crisis never really fades from the news cycle, even if it seems otherwise. explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together. The window to prevent the catastrophic effects of climate change is rapidly closing. Thats one of several distressing takeaways from a recent report by a United Nations body of experts on climate change, which was approved by 195 governments. Last month, the warned that global average temperatures are expected to rise 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels by the first half of the early 2030s. Past that critical warming threshold, extreme heat, floods and crop failures will put severe stress on human societies, Brad Plumer, a reporter for the Climate desk, synthesized the thousands of pages of the report into . Its headline, Climate Change Is Speeding Toward Catastrophe. The Next Decade Is Crucial, U.N. Panel Says, is a startling one. Mr. Plumer covers policy, technology and the wide-ranging effects of climate change, from wildfires to catastrophic flooding. The report, he said, is the closest scientists have come to a consensus on climate change and our very possible future. In an interview, Mr. Plumer revisited some of the findings from the I.P.C.C. and the challenges of avoiding pure pessimism in climate reporting. This conversation has been edited. The last time the I.P.C.C. did this kind of reporting was in 2013, when it felt a little more as if climate changes effects were in the future. There were a lot of warnings. One thing that was different about this report is that climate changes effects are being felt today in every region of the world. Climate change has very much become a now problem rather than a future problem. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and your Times account, or for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? . Want all of The Times? .