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Published on 23 July 2015
They warn an increase in average global temperatures of just 1°C could result in dramatic changes in sea level and an increase in powerful storms. They conclude that 2°C of warming – the international target for limiting global warming – will be 'highly dangerous' to humanity. The study warns that glaciers in Greenland and the Antarctic could melt 10 times faster than projections put forward…
Published on 23 July 2015
The findings support the likelihood that a current hiatus in the world's year-on-year temperature increases - which have stalled since 1998 - is temporary. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh analysed real-world historic climate records from 1782 to 2000, comparing them with computerised climate models for the same timescale. They were able to separate the influence on climate trends of man-made warming - such…
Published on 23 July 2015
More than 60 mayors pledged to do their part during a two-day summit in the Vatican aimed at spurring efforts to fight global warming following the pope’s environment encyclical denouncing the exploitation of the poor and the Earth’s resources. “If we’re going to confront these issues, if we’re going to overcome the fear of change, the fear of losing the convenience of consumerism that…
Published on 21 July 2015
Behind the scenes, the digital organizers of international environmental group 350.org have been raising this army and directing it to put pressure on several key fronts. While the majority of Congressional Republicans are still waffling over the reality of climate change, 350.org's legions have been busy filling the streets with hundreds of thousands of protesters, shutting down major pipeline projects and killing billions of dollars'…
Published on 21 July 2015
One of the lead authors of the report is Sir David King, formerly the UK government’s chief scientist, who last month co-authored a report on the scale of investment that should be made to move from fossil fuels to renewable energy by 2025. In a foreword to the latest report, Baroness Anelay, a minister at the British foreign office, writes that assessing the…
Published on 21 July 2015
That’s according to a study published this week in Nature Communications, which shows that fire weather seasons have, on average, grown 18.7 percent longer across the Earth’s surface since 1979. What’s more, the global burnable area affected by fire seasons has doubled, meaning areas that didn’t used to be fire prone are starting to look rather combustible. The reason? Hotter, drier conditions across vast…
Published on 21 July 2015
“Even without El Niño fire is here in Indonesia every year,” said Herry Purnomo, a Scientist focusing on smallholder and community forestry at the Bogor, Indonesia Center for International Forestry Research. “We are afraid [this coming year] fires will be much much bigger.” El Niño is a recurring, cyclical climate pattern, when waters off of the western coast of South American warm to higher-then-expected levels…
Published on 16 July 2015
While the mapping effort doesn’t give a complete view and or address how the stressors are actually impacting various ecosystems, scientists not involved with the work said it is an important step in understanding the plight of the oceans and could inform policy decisions, showing where mitigation efforts are having a real impact.Hotspots and ‘Hopespots’ “No part of the global ocean is without human…
Published on 16 July 2015
A team of US scientists say the cumulative effect of the longer flight times that they think may have resulted from climate variation would have added millions of dollars to airlines’ costs, and perhaps a billion gallons of extra fuel. Kristopher Karnauskas, an associate scientist in geology and geophysics at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in the US, and colleagues report in Nature Climate…
Published on 14 July 2015
In parallel, the scientific community’s focus will be on using and creating practical solutions to complex climate challenges. This week, scientists are gathering in France for a conference hosted by UNESCO (the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to debate evidence-based solutions.Agricultural scientists are getting organized to increase their involvement in such climate meetings, which the energy and transport sectors often dominate.Food systems’ high…
Published on 14 July 2015
At the close of this year, we can be confident we will have that new agreement which needs to put the world on track to a low carbon economy by charting a defining and definitive course towards limiting a global temperature rise under 2 degrees Celsius this century. The agreement also needs to spell out how developing countries will be supported in their climate ambitions…
Published on 10 July 2015
Special Representative for COP 21/CMP11 Laurence Tubiana who is also the French Ambassador for Climate Change Negotiations said at this time, the negotiation of several countries was not moving fast while the others have given good proposals. "The message we are sending to every government is, give instruction to your negotiator to engage in the negotiation now. We have the next session beginning in…
Published on 10 July 2015
"The biggest risk of all that we face is that we’re addressing the wrong problem," University of Oslo sociologist Karen O’Brien told a week-long conference of climate researchers in Paris. Using more renewable energy and setting up crop insurance schemes and early warning systems is important, she said. But climate change “is more than a technical challenge”. Finding genuine solutions will have to involve…
Published on 10 July 2015
“The world is at a critical crossroads,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message read to the academic gathering. While nations have committed to limiting average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels, research shows the world is heading for double or more that on current greenhouse gas emission trends, he said. And based on emissions curbs…
Published on 6 July 2015
The House in 2009 approved a bipartisan “cap and trade” bill designed to impose ceilings on industrial carbon emissions, while allowing utilities and other businesses to swap credits to meet their targets. But the bill authored by former Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman of California and Edward Markey of Massachusetts – now a senator – was defeated, the victim of industrial and anti-tax forces and general…
Published on 6 July 2015
As part of Din l-Art Ħelwa’s 50th anniversary activities, a public lecture was delivered by Michael Zammit Cutajar, a veteran of climate conference negotiations since 1991. He is currently advising a think tank (Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations) ahead of the next climate summit in Paris this year. The summit is seen by many as the last effective opportunity to negotiate arrangements…
Published on 6 July 2015
The commission’s recommendations are all based on solid evidence about the link between greenhouse gas emissions, global warming and human health. Focusing only on energy policy, however, will not be enough to head off climate change successfully. Calls for action that do not include reduction in the world’s livestock production and meat consumption will not be able to protect public health from the effects…
Published on 3 July 2015
“The pace of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations is far too slow. It’s like snails, moving snail’s pace,” Ban said at a high-level event on climate change referring to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations currently taking place in Bonn, ahead of the official 2015 climate change conference set to take place in Paris on Dec. 7-8. The…
Published on 3 July 2015
Smugglers are preying on refugees, social services in poor Middle Eastern and African countries have been stretched to the limit, and Europe and Australia are turning back exiles at their borders. António Guterres, U.N. high commissioner for refugees, acknowledged that relief agencies are overwhelmed. "We don't have the capacity and we don't have the resources to support all the victims of conflict around the world…
Published on 3 July 2015
Questions abound on why global collective action to address climate change is a failure. To many climate sceptics, climate change diplomacy — after more than 20 years — is ineffective and has taken one full circle. Diplomacy, reportedly, is “the practice of conducting negotiations between state and group representatives, (and) is critical to integrating climate change into foreign policy and to developing the conditions…
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