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One year on
This December marks one year on from the Paris agreement, where world governments agreed to keep global warming to within 2 degrees Celsius of the average pre-industrial temperature. To mark the occasion, Horizon takes stock of the situation and examines the challenges ahead. We speak to scientists who are mapping a pathway for governments to cut back on emissions, we host a debate on steel - one of Europe’s most polluting industries, and we look the progress of carbon capture and storage. We also interview Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founder of the Potsdam Institute in Germany, who was the first to propose that 2 degrees should be set as a limit for global warming.
Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber says that limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius will not be enough to avoid all tipping points. Image credit: Mercator 2009

Europe needs a climate research plan as focused as the US Apollo space programme that took astronauts to the moon, according to Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founder of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, who in 1995 first proposed that we should limit the increase in the earth's temperature to 2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

State-of-the-art sensors measure the amount of CO2 leaked from the ocean floor in the Mediterranean Sea, and similar ones are being used in the North Sea. Image credit: M.Weber/HYDRA

Scientists are preparing a first-of-a-kind sub-sea experiment in which they will deliberately pump carbon dioxide into the ocean floor and let it seep back up into the sea.

Horizon held a debate with representatives from industry and a climate non-profit organisation to discuss whether steel could be sustainable in the future. Image credit: Octavian Carare

The steel industry plays a big role in Europe’s energy consumption, but many say green technologies have been sidelined to stay competitive with cheaper, dirtier steel from China. To explore the best way forward, Horizon organised a debate between Dr Klaus Peters, the secretary general of the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP), and Wendel Trio, the director of Climate Action Network Europe.

Nuclear power is one way to lower carbon emissions but there are issues around public acceptance of the technology. Image credit: 'Nuclear.power.plant.Dukovany' is in the public domain

Technologies such as nuclear power and carbon capture and storage, which are currently unpopular in many European countries, might be necessary if Europe is to meet the emissions reduction targets set out in Paris last year, according to researchers looking into the options facing Europe's Member States.

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