In order to limit global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F) above preindustrial temperatures, the goal of the Paris Agreement, nearly half of all existing fossil fuel extraction must be shut down, a study in Environmental Research Letters finds. “Our study reinforces that building new fossil fuel infrastructure is not a viable response to Russia’s war on Ukraine,” Kelly Trout, a co-author of the study, told The Guardian. “The world has already tapped too much oil and gas.”

According to a new study published in GeoHealth, the drop in industrial soot pollution (technically known as PM2.5) that would result from the elimination of fossil fuels needed to meet U.S. climate goals would prevent more than 53,000 premature deaths in the U.S. every year. The UW-Madison researchers calculated that the health savings alone would be around $608 billion a year. Study author Jonathan Patz said their “hope is that our research findings might spur decision-makers grappling with the necessary move away from fossil fuels, to shift their thinking from burdens to benefits.” (50,000 lives: Washington Post $, E&E News, The Hill; 1.5°C: The Guardian)