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Analysis and Environment

Will global warming continue even after we hit net-zero emissions?

Understanding how the atmosphere responds to rising and falling carbon emissions is a complex business, and now researchers have found taking longer to reach net zero could see global warming continue afterwards

By Michael Le Page

14 November 2023

When will global warming end? It is unclear

Lukas Schulze/Getty Images

The longer it takes to reach net zero, the greater the risk that global warming will continue for decades or millennia even after we have cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to an assessment by climate researchers.

This means we may have to emit even less carbon dioxide than we thought if we want to limit warming to, say, 2°C, making carbon budgets even smaller than current estimates.

“The timing at which we reach net zero is also key,” says Roland Séférian…

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