Yahoo News explains: Why we’re closer to climate catastrophe than we thought

Planet Earth is even closer to catastrophe than scientists previously predicted, according to a new report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The report — which took three years to create and included the work of 91 authors from 40 countries — says the planet will reach the crucial threshold of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels as soon as 2040, and the effects will be irreversible.