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goal will be adopted— exactly when or who is responsible for meeting it is unclear. The fund, so far, isn't quite up to that $100 billion goal. There is no legally binding language about it. Temperature: To keep temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius, the agreement calls for parties to "reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, recognizing that peaking will take longer for developing country parties, and to undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with best available science, so as to achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century." According to The New York Times, the passage implies that at least some fossil fuels can continue to burn, as long as the greenhouse gas emissions are absorbed by a larger number of "greenhouse sinks," like new forests. One environmental organization has already suggested that if commitments pledged before and during the talks in Paris are met, a critical mass of countries could reach emissions peaks by 2030. Arctic Temperatures Reach Record High The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its �:�.�,�i��.'. Re'�;��)rj ('ar(j which ......................... finds that the average annual air temperature over land in the region was 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit above the long -term average (between October 2014 and September 2015). That's the highest since modern records began in 1900 av, (,nt.s.._ °'ortune. "Warming is happening more than twice as fast in the Arctic than anywhere else in the world," said NOAA Chief Scientist Richard Spinrad. 'We know this is due to climate change. This warmer air, the report suggests, is affecting sea temperatures and melting ice — expanding oceans and causing sea -level rise. Just how bad is it? In the 80s, about 20 percent of the sea ice in the region was old and about 45 percent had formed that year. By contrast, in 2015, about 70 percent had formed in the previous year; only about three percent was considered "old" ice. "The conclusion that comes to my mind is these report cards are trailing indicators of what's happening in the Arctic," Spinrad said. "They can turn out to be leading indicators for the rest of the globe." Jim Overland, a NOAA oceanographer and one of the more than 70 co- authors of the report, suggested that even the newly inked Paris deal may not be enough —at least in the short term —to turn things around. "Unfortunately, we passed some critical points on that," Overland said. "If the globe goes to a 2- degree warming, we're looking at a 4- or 5- degree warming for the winter in the Arctic by 2040, 2050. That's based upon the COz that we've already put into the atmosphere and will be putting for the next 20 years." The Climate Post offers a rundown of the week in climate and energy news. It is produced each Thursday by Duke Unh,ersiiv's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and cross posted on the Hu�ngton Post and National Geographic News Watch.