Among the poets from around the world who came to the U.N. climate summit in
Morocco to highlight the impacts of climate change and inspire climate action
was Marshall Islands poet and climate activist Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner. She reads
her poem, "Two Degrees." Climatologists say that the best-case scenario of
immediate and dramatic curbs on carbon emissions is that planetary surface
temperatures will increase by at least 2 degrees Celsius in the coming decades.
"At a climate change conference, a colleague tells me 2 degrees is just a
benchmark for climate negotiations. I tell him 2 degrees is a gamble," says
Jetnil-Kijiner. "At 2 degrees, my islands, the Marshall Islands, is already
under water. This is why our leaders push for 1.5."
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