Irish Examiner view: IPCC report gives us even more reasons to take action

It's grim news but the UN's message is encouraging in that it shows we can make positive choices now

The IPCC report suggests that the economic benefits to people’s health from air quality improvements alone would at least equal the costs of reducing or avoiding emissions. File picture: Martin Meissner/AP

The UN report released on Monday makes for grim reading — the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found the world is now likely to surpass its most ambitious climate target, which sought to limit warming to 1.5C above preindustrial temperatures, by the early 2030s.

No one can now credibly claim ignorance of this problem, the very definition of an existential threat. The crackpot climate change deniers, or the paid shills of various implicated industries, are long since discredited, if not disgraced, as the entire world is forced to face this challenge. We moved beyond the realm of frightening possibilities long ago; are we now at the stage of looking at terrifying probabilities?