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Averting a catastrophe

The caution issued by the chief scientific adviser to the United Kingdom's Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on a dangerous four-degree Celsius rise in global average temperature above pre-industrial levels should serve as a fresh alert to governments. The scientific consensus on global average temperature increase during the 21st century, issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007, ranges from 1.4 degrees to 4 degrees C. Climatologists are worried about the negative effects of an increase beyond two degrees for millions of people.

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