We know that climate change, left unaddressed, will produce devastating results for the planet, including the extinction of many species that occupy it. While we spend most of our energy and figuring out how we’ll adapt to these new and challenging conditions, scientists say we aren’t giving enough thought to the very real possibility that humanity gets straight-up wiped out, too. A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) argues that it’s time researchers start looking into human extinction as a potential “climate endgame.”
The study looked at other research that seeks to quantify the potential damages of the planet continuing to warm. They found that too often, researchers focus on the target temperatures for limiting climate change — keeping the planet from warming more than 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above industrial levels — instead of considering the more catastrophic end of the spectrum.
