Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast.

I'm Tamer Keith, I cover the White House.

The world faces key deadlines for climate change in the coming decades.

But most of us are more focused on the short term.

Today, tomorrow, maybe next year?

So what do we do about that?

Our friends at the NPR Podcast consider this decided to take a look.

Here's Elsa Chang.

Now, as a journalist, I can tell you, nothing motivates quite like a deadline.

The tighter the better.

Unfortunately, though, when it comes to one of the biggest problems facing humanity,

climate change, the timeline has always been on the longer side.

Take this NPR story from way back in 1977.

If the world depends on coal as the major energy source over the next 200 years, the consequences

could be disastrous.

That's the conclusion of a panel of experts.

Okay, sounds scary.

But 200 years sounds like plenty of time for the world to take care of it, right?

Of course, here we are, 46 years later, and we haven't taken care of it.

Now in 2023, the deadlines to avert climate disaster are measured in decades, not centuries.

Here's UN Secretary General Antonio Gutarraish at the COP27 climate summit last year.

The science is clear, and the hope of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees means achieving

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