Accelerate Climate Solutions Interns Model Climate Solutions with Professor Rebecca Sanders

Presenting the change in global temperature from pre-industrial times, Sanders revealed to the interns that the global average temperature has increased by about 1.4 °C which is an increase of 2.5 °F. This increased global temperature has already put historical sites under water, posing serious flood risks that threaten communities and challenging governments. Tracking global temperature data, this change is unexplainable by natural cyclical changes in global temperature. 

Ultimately, the predicted global temperature increase by 2100 is 3.3°C or 5.9°F under the business-as-usual scenario which is the baseline prediction for the En-ROADS Simulator. Though seemingly a slight increase in temperature, this is a large deviation from the natural environmental trajectory which can cause devastating effects, putting coastal cities under floods. 

As a climate ambassador for Climate Interactive, Professor Sanders taught our interns to use the En-ROADS Simulator: a world-renowned climate simulator developed by Climate Interactive and MIT SLOAN Management. This simulator allowed Sanders to easily interact with the consequences of policy, simulate technological advancements, and environmental calculation through 19 different simulated actions. 

While there are many different contributors to climate change, Sanders illuminated that the smallest decisions collectively have the largest results in totality. Truly, the participation and effort of each individual can make a difference. With decisions across energy supply, industries, and technological investments, the interns had to learn and make difficult decisions as teams to bring total global temperature change below 2°C by 2100. 

Pablo Kim, an intern for Accelerate Climate Solution on the Local Climate Action C team noted, “I enjoyed the hands-on interactive, choosing and deciding how to make the difficult decisions”. Kim’s sentiment was a common experience the interns faced. Not only using the software, each intern team had to bring forth and compare policy decisions, hearing ideas from each other. 

Preventing unfettered climate change is determined on spreading awareness about creative solutions and contacting your representatives to actually implement the policy needed to slow climate change. 

We encourage you to reach out to your elected officials and make your voice heard about this key issue. To learn more about how ACS is taking local action sign-up for our newsletter and follow us on social media!

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Note: Information and data was derived from Dr. Rebecca Sanders presentation.