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Climate clock is ticking
To the twelfth hour.
From the article:
In the summer of 2007, a large portion of Arctic Sea ice - about 40 per cent - simply vanished. That wasn't supposed to happen. At least not yet. As recent as 2004, scientists had predicted it would take another 50 to 100 years for that much ice to melt. Yet here it was happening today.
It raised the question: Had global warming suddenly pressed the gas pedal to the floor? If so, the world was in for quite a climate ride - dramatic, jarring changes in climate much sooner than expected. Climate scientists were deeply worried.
"It really caught the scientific community by surprise," Professor James Ford, a McGill University geographer and Arctic expert recalled. "The Arctic system is close to crossing the threshold beyond which we will get dramatic changes in climate."
The sudden mass melting brought an earlier ice event into new perspective. In 2005, scientists at the Canadian Ice Service, the nation's leading ice specialists, were examining satellite images when they noticed that the Ayles Ice Shelf, which is about as big as the island of Montreal, had suddenly broken free from the top of Ellesmere Island and floated away.
Vincent Warwick, an Arctic expert at Université Laval, said at the time: "This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the Canadian North that have been in place for many thousands of years. We are crossing climate thresholds, and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead."
The ice melt of 2007 seemed to confirm Warwick's fears. Reports since then claim the Arctic ice could be gone by 2013.
We have already crossed some critical climate thresholds. The world not only has to drastically cut back its greenhouse gas emissions but also begin to take steps to deal with the inevitable changes that global warming will cause. The much-feared tipping points - which would cause massive icecap and ice shield melting, and plunge the world headlong into severe weather systems, causing broad devastation and rising seas - seem increasingly probable.
This is why, scientists say, the United Nations climate talks that began this week in Bonn, Germany, and will culminate in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December, are so important. They are a last chance for the world to come to its senses and negotiate an agreement to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Scientists have been warning about these tipping points for decades, but few politicians have listened. Most industrialized countries led by the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe have continued to pump increased amounts of GHGs into the atmosphere despite promises to reduce emissions below 1990 levels.
Developing countries like China and India have taken no steps to curtail their emissions. With a new coal-fired power plant coming on stream every week, China is now the world's biggest GHG producer.
The atmosphere now contains 387 parts per million of carbon dioxide. This is more than the Earth has seen in the last 650,000 years. Pre-industrial levels were about 270 ppm, which remained pretty well constant over the 100,000 years mankind has walked the Earth. Scientists say that because of a delayed reaction, we have yet to experienced the full effect of what we already have put into the atmosphere. That effect will unravel in the decades to come. Meanwhile, we're adding about 30 billion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere annually or about 2 ppm. Last year alone, global GHGs increased three per cent.To the twelfth hour. From the article: In the summer of 2007, a large portion of... more-
- JanforGore
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Five nations under threat from climate change
While the world dithers about tackling climate change, in some parts of the world people are running out of time. In Florida sea level rises can be worked around to some extent - condos can be put on stilts and moved away from the shoreline. But on some islands you can only move back so far before you have to start worrying about the water at your back door as well as the water in front.
Here are five islands whose inhabitants are going to need a new home soon:
1. The Guardian reports today that the new president of the Maldives will be putting part of the country's profits from tourism into a very special - and unusual - fund: one that will be used to buy a new, climate-change-friendly home. With its highest point reaching only 2.4 metres, the Maldives is one of the lowest-lying nations in the world and risks being submerged by rising sea-levels.
2. Tuvalu is another small pacific island state, and after the Maldives the second-lowest nation in the world. At its highest, it is 5 metres above sea-level and could be gone by the middle of this century. In 2002, the government was said to have hired two international law firms to look into suing polluting nations for effectively evicting its citizens.
3. Kiribati is a group of 32 atols and one island that peaks at 6.5 metres above sea-level. The World Bank has been involved in assessing the nation's vulnerability to climate change. I attended a talk by one of the project leaders some years ago in Paris. She quoted a few of the changes which the islanders were noticing. The one that has always stuck with me was "the first line of coconut trees has disappeared". Salt-intrusion was killing off the trees that were closest to the water.
4. The inhabitants of the Carteret Islands of Papua New Guinea may be among the first climate refugees - their home lies just 1.2 metres above the waves. The government of Papua New Guinea adopted a plan in 2005 to evacuate the locals to the neighbouring island of Bougainville. The relocation was initially scheduled for 2007, then delayed. According to this report, there was a trial earlier this year, which created some tension as relocated citizens were used as labourers in coconut plantations on Bougainville.
5. In 1995, 500,000 inhabitants on Bangladesh's Bhola Island were forced to move in when half their island was permanently flooded. Some claim they were the first climate refugees. Scientists predict that 20 million Bangladeshis could suffer the same fate by 2030.
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How many more will it take for urgent action to begin? The longer we wait the more CO2 and other greenhouse gases continue to be spewed into the atmosphere. I recall sitting here last year asking the same question, and still no global treaty on climate change that addresses the true urgency of this, nor any significant bills by this Congress. And Obama still touts the 80% by 2050 line as if we actually have that kind of time. We don't.While the world dithers about tackling climate change, in some parts of the world... more-
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Humanity's carbon budget set at one trillion tons
No more than one-quarter: that's the proportion of existing reserves of oil, gas and coal that we can burn if we are serious about keeping the planet from warming by 2°C or more.
These are the conclusions of the most comprehensive efforts yet to pin down just how much carbon dioxide can be emitted into the atmosphere.
If governments are to stick to their pledge to avoid "dangerous" global warming – which most politicians and many scientists take to be no more than 2°C – the models come up with roughly the same answer. Humans must not inject more than 1 trillion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere in total.
That, say teams led by Myles Allen of the University of Oxford and Malte Meinshausen of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, will give us a 50:50 chance of limiting global warming to 2°C.
To improve the chances that the planet remains this side of 2°C, Meinshausen's study suggests we should emit no more than 750 billion tonnes of carbon in total. The risk of exceeding 2°C would then drop from 50% to 25%.
Halfway there
Industrial activity since the mid-18th century means we have already emitted 500 billion tonnes of carbon – half of the 1-trillion-tonne budget. "At some point in the last few years, we released the 500-billionth tonne of carbon," says Allen. We can afford to dump only 250 billion tonnes more – or perhaps 500 billion tonnes, if we are willing to run the higher risk.
So how much longer have we got? Don't let past emissions fool you, says Allen. "It took 250 years to burn the first 500 billion tonnes. On current trends we'll burn the next 500 billion in less than 40 years."
Busting the budget
That means that if we continue emitting carbon at the same rate as we are now, we will exhaust what Allen calls the trillion-tonne "carbon budget for the human race" by 2040. Anything that is emitted beyond that will commit the planet to more than 2°C of CO2-induced warming.
Meinshausen and colleagues calculate that we could exhaust the carbon budget within as little as 20 years. They also find that if we were to burn all the proven reserves of fossil fuels, this would inject nearly three times the carbon budget into the atmosphere.
To have a 75% chance of keeping to the 2°C target, "we can burn less than one-quarter of known economically recoverable fossil-fuel reserves between now and 2050", says Bill Hare of the Potsdam institute. "This means that whilst a lot of the oil and natural gas can be burned, certainly not much at all of coals reserves can."
None of these figures include "unconventional" fossil fuel reserves, such as tar sands.
end of excerpt.No more than one-quarter: that's the proportion of existing reserves of oil, gas... more-
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Clean energy poised to phase out coal
It is inevitable. Clean energy is coming more into demand not only because of the effects of climate change, but because of the economy and because clean energy will keep us from the Middle East sand. A change is coming because people are tired of the old ways that produce the same results with pollution, disease, war, and economic upheaval.
Reports state that because of the financial downturn climate change is not important? Well, I think they are wrong. I think the financial downturn will make more people see that to move towards clean alternate energy sources will improve our economy by providing more jobs as we move towards a sustainable future. It really is a no-brainer.
To have 100% renewable energy in a decade is a definite goal that can be accomplished. I believe it will be through a mass grassroots movement pushing political will that has already begun. I believe it will do much to bring America back into the world and bring the world back from the brink of catastrophic climate change because it is simply a moral imperative and failure is not an option.
Our planet is already nearing a 2.5 degree increase. Three degrees or above will see this world drastically changed and our relationship to it much harsher and more dangerous than we ever imagined. Now is not the time to delay and use a financial downturn as an excuse to push climate change onto the backburner. It is time to bail out our Earth!
It is the right time to embrace a clean energy future to infuse our economy and to come full circle to our moral purpose on this planet and to bring health to our people. You want a healthcare plan that works? This is part of it too. It will be the greatest gift we could give our children. It is something I look forward to with great anticipation because it has been a long time coming.It is inevitable. Clean energy is coming more into demand not only because of the... more-
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Study: Greenhouse gases must be cut 70% to prevent global warming catastrophe
Imagine that. A majority of scientists do not believe politicians will bring us solutions in time to escape at least a 2 to 4 degree rise in temperature by end of century. I really have to be honest and state that I concur with them. I don't see much of anything coming out of Washington DC, as they still do not understand the __urgency__ of what scientists are talking about for all of their talk.Imagine that. A majority of scientists do not believe politicians will bring us... more-
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- 11 months ago
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Half the world faces water shortage by 2080
Half the world's population could face a shortage of clean water by 2080 because of climate change, experts warned Tuesday.
Wong Poh Poh, a professor at the National University of Singapore, told a regional conference that global warming was disrupting water flow patterns and increasing the severity of floods, droughts and storms — all of which reduce the availability of drinking water.
Wong said the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that as many as 2 billion people won't have sufficient access to clean water by 2050. That figure is expected to rise to 3.2 billion by 2080 — nearly tripling the number who now do without it.
Reduced access to clean water — which refers to water that can be used for drinking, bathing or cooking — forces many villagers in poor countries to walk miles to reach supplies. Others, including those living in urban shanties, suffer from diseases caused by drinking from unclean sources.
At the beginning of the decade, the World Health Organization estimated that 1.1 billion people did not have sufficient access to clean water.
Asia, home to more than 4 billion people, is the most vulnerable region, especially India and China, where booming populations have placed tremendous stress on water sources, said Wong, a member of the U.N. panel.
"In Asia, water distribution is uneven and large areas are under water stress. Climate change is going to exacerbate this scarcity," he told the two-day Asia Pacific Regional Water Conference attended by policy makers, government officials, academics, businessmen and consumer group representatives.
Scientists have said global climate change takes many forms, causing droughts in some areas while increasing flooding and the severity of cyclones in others. Droughts reduce water supply, and floods destroy the quality of water. Rising sea levels, for instance, increase the salt content at the mouths of many rivers, from which many Asians draw their drinking water.
"As human civilization develops, the environment is increasingly affected in negative ways. Floods, drought, changing rainfall patterns and rising temperatures are signs of our misdeeds to nature," said Rozali Ismail, head of a state water association in Malaysia.Half the world's population could face a shortage of clean water by 2080 because... more-
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- 1 year ago
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India loses more people to climate change than any other country
I truly think that before we as a species can confront climate change effectively, we have to realize the interdependent world we live in. We have to see that though we live in the United States that what we do affects people on the other side of the world, and vice versa. We have to realize that the decisions we make and the actions we take will have a lasting effect on future generations.
I do believe that any climate treaty that comes out of Poznan which leads to Copenhagen must address the responsibility of rich nations making the most global warming pollution. It also must address the fact that India, China, and other developing nations looking for the same economic prosperity the US and other rich nations have can also have it by using alternate energies. They would actually fare better than the US has in regards to also providing the primer for a sustainable world. China especially must be made to see as well as the US that this is not a game of you go first or we will do nothing. This is not or should not be about political powerplays. The ability of the human species and other species to sustain themselves on this planet is at stake. That should supercede any political backbiting and competition.
And we can no longer state that there will be casualties as a result of the effects of the climate crisis in the future. This is the future. We are experiencing that future right now, and we cannot shirk our moral responsibility to those nations whose people do not make negligable amounts of emissions but yet suffer the consequences of our behavior.I truly think that before we as a species can confront climate change effectively, we... more-
- JanforGore
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How we can avoid a world without water
There is no more of an insidious killer than drought because of its subtlety and silence. It creeps across the land and air sucking out its moisture and leaving nothing but devastation and hunger in its wake. It robs humans and other species of the sustenance they must have to survive, and it seeks to cast a dark shadow in the background of the raging fires it precipitates. It takes great pleasure in the misery it creates and shows no remorse for the lives it takes.
Too dramatic you think? I think not. Drought has been and continues to be a persistant and severe threat upon the Earth. Only now, it is excelerating and becoming even more of a persistant and severe threat due to our own intervention. Can you imagine that? We by our own hand are exacerbating the very condition that is leading to our own demise due to our own selfish oblivious actions or lack of action regarding it.
And as we see with many parts of the world including Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and now even the U.S., the balance between conservation and waste of this life giving resource is dangerously out of balance. The balance between a stable climate that supports life and an erratic climate that destroys life is also dangerously out of balance in concert with actions surrounding water resources. And its remedy now rests with human choices. So what can be done?
Besides an entire shift in consciousness and in how we see water, political will is one important way water policy is fixed from local to the federal level. However, as with consciousness surrounding the climate crisis people must be aware that there is a problem and that it effects their lives. Once that message is clear people seek to move beyond the confortable boundaries they live in to exact change. For many, severe drought in Kenya, China, or Gaza does not phase them as to them it is a world away. However, when we realize how the hydrologic cycle plays into all of our lives and how it is affected by pollution, waste, mismanagement, privitization, and now climate change, those areas of the world do not look so far away anymore.
And this is where we are at now. Looking across the great expanse of our world and seeing the effects of drought and how close to home it is to us and that its effects are not indigenous to just one part of the world. That is the first step towards action.
We need not live in a world without water, but that will mean living in a world without apathy and fear of facing problems head on to solve them. It will not be easy to do now as we already see the relentless shadow of drought moving across the landscape, but it is something we must do in order to save our most precious resource in order to save ourselves.
This article and interview with Peter Gleick gives us good insight into drought, the global water crisis, and the solutions that lie before us now.
How we can avoid a world without water
http://www.alternet.org/water/127703/peter_gleick%3A_how_we_can_avoid_a_world_without_water/?page=1There is no more of an insidious killer than drought because of its subtlety and... more-
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The search for clean water in the coming year
I have done this year what I have done every year successively for the last few years; report here on the global water crisis in an attempt to not only inform but to inspire and to move us to action. The need for that action has never been more necessary than it is now. The Earth now sits on a precipice, with man having the power to pull it back or push it off.
Around the world from North America to Africa and beyond, we see water scarcity and drought becoming more a part of daily life for more people. This does not bode well for the future as population continues to rise as the quality of life in the developing world decreases due to war, climate change, pollution, and poverty. Climate change continues to melt glaciers globally at a much more rapid pace than predicted, and man finds himself because of it at a crossroads in a world filled with war, disease, famine, injustice, poverty, and despair. It would be very easy to give up looking at the picture we have painted, but we cannot do so. Our own survival depends on how we treat this planet and our fellow man. How we react to these crises now will determine if the world falls off that precipice or is saved.
I firmly believe that even though we now live in a world of turmoil, this next year will be a year of awakening for many. There are many more organizations that are now bringing awareness and action to the parts of our world in need of potable water and sanitation. There are many more people becoming aware of not only their carbon footprint, but their water footprint as well. This past year saw a surge in activism against the bottled water industry with citizen groups across the world standing up to the corporations seeking to take our water for profit.
These are good signs that point to a more intense activism in the year to come to hold political leaders accountable for policies that seek to fix water infrastructure, restore wetlands, reduce pollution, hold officials accountable for proper water management and efficient agriculture policies, and also hold them to signing a climate treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions that lead to drought and glacier melt this next year.
However, none of these things can happen without us. Without our voices, our hands, our perseverence, and our love for this planet and for the one resource we cannot live without. It is that love and perseverence that carries me into another year of water activism and of reporting to you the stories of our water, it's life, and our contributions to its preservation. May this coming year bring us closer to a world where water is truly appreciated for the beautiful life sustaining source and human right it is.
Water Is Life.I have done this year what I have done every year successively for the last few years;... more-
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Scotland to cut emissions 42% by 2020
Hello USA. Not politically feasible?
excerpt:
'As developed nations juggle with the numbers attempting to dodge the issue of agreement on ambitious carbon emissions cuts, the Scottish government has unveiled plans to cut the country’s carbon emissions by a staggering 42 percent, more than the 40 percent recommendation given by IPCC.
This is the most ambitious emissions reduction goal adopted by any country thus far, Germany has plans to 40 its emissions by 40 percent while Britain formally adopted a 34 percent reduction goal this April. Scotland, with its strong renewable energy infrastructure and bold plans to expand the same, has raised the bar even further.
In the recent weeks the developed countries have been in the line of fire of the green groups as they proposed disappointing emission reduction goals. Completely ignoring the IPCC recommendations of 25-40 percent reductions by 2020, Japan and Russia proposed cutting their respective emissions by merely 8 and 10-15 percent. These are only just better than the Kyoto Protocol goals which bind them to cut their emissions by 5-6 percent by 2012 from 1990 levels.
The driving engine behind this highly ambitious goal is the strong renewable energy infrastructure of Scotland. The Scottish government has unveiled numerous clean energy projects in the recent years which has helped the nation make the transition from fossil fuels to clean fuels.
Scotland’s geographic position is a blessing as it harnesses the high speed winds coming from the North Sea to generate electricity through offshore as well as onshore wind energy farms. The total wind energy potential is estimated to be 25 GW. Scotland has quite a few wind farms including one which is the largest onshore farm in Europe.
Last year the Scottish government announced a three fold increase in subsidies on small scale wind and solar energy systems for home owners and small businesses. This shows that the government is serious about promoting renewable sources as reliable sources of energy. Similar efforts from other countries are essential if we want to replace fossil fuels as the major source of power generation around the world.
Scotland has also taken some innovative initiatives in order to conserve and produce energy in a clean manner. The Glasgow City Council was provided with blueprint of a revolutionary idea of harnessing solar power. The plan, developed by Glasgow-based ZM Architecture, calls for deployment of floating lily-shaped solar panels in the Clyde river which will generate electricity & supply directly to the national grid. The company hopes that the city council would approve a pilot project which could eventually result in a large scale implementation of the project.'
end of excerpt.
This is what REAL political will looks like.Hello USA. Not politically feasible? excerpt: 'As developed nations juggle... more-
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- 9 months ago
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Warming takes center stage as Australian drought worsens
The Arctic may be the canary in the coal mine regarding warming, but Australia appears to be the continent that is now the epicenter giving us a window into what a warming world would look like. And to blame it also on lack of political will would be absolutely valid. Take a good look at Australia, a beautiful continent that is now being ravaged by changes that can subtly be felt on every other continent now, even Antarctica. This IS the most important issue of our times as these changes are now bringing about a total revision of the livelihoods of humans and their ability to survive.To think that Australia could warm by four degrees by 2050 may seem unfathomable to some, but they are the people no doubt who also think God is controlling all of this. If in our wildest imaginations a "God" is doing so, he or she certainly is not a God that I would worship as he or she is indeed cruel.
Way past time to wake up.The Arctic may be the canary in the coal mine regarding warming, but Australia appears... more-
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- 12 months ago
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Questions for Earth Day
So many questions, so little time.-
- JanforGore
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- 12 months ago
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Lake Mead Is Drying Up
The combination of a changing climate and a strong demand for the lake’s remaining water has resulted in 100 foot drop since 2000. While that’s just 10 percent under the lake’s high water mark in 1983, Lake Mead is like a martini glass—wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. That 10 percent dip represents a loss of half Lake Mead’s water supply in nine years, from 96 percent capacity to 43 percent.
Anyone who’s gone on a diet knows this simple equation: if you burn fewer calories than you eat, you’ll gain weight. But like a cheating dieter in Superman’s Bizarro world, the Western United States has been sucking more water out of Lake Mead than the dwindling Colorado River can provide to replace it. When output is greater than input, the reservoir shrinks.
And it continues to shrink. Lake Mead’s water level fell 14 feet last year, and the Bureau of Reclamation has projected the level will drop 14 more feet this summer. That will bring it perilously close to 1,075 feet, the point at which the federal government can step in and declare a drought condition, forcing a reduction of 400,000 acre-feet drawn from Lake Mead per year. A typical Las Vegas home uses a half acre-foot of water per year, so such a reduction would be equal toturning the tap off for 800,000 households.
In 2008, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography issued a paper titled “When will Lake Mead go dry?” which set the odds of Lake Mead drying up by 2021 at 50-50. No more water, no more electricity, no more pumping power.
“Today, we are at or beyond the sustainable limit of the Colorado system,” concluded the paper’s authors. “The alternative to reasoned solutions to this coming water crisis is a major societal and economic disruption in the desert southwest; something that will affect each of us living in the region.”
snip
One of the more radical proposals involves pumping water from the eastern United States (where many regions are suffering the consequences of flooded rivers) over the Rockies to the West. In a Las Vegas Sun interview on May 1, Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said, “We’ve taken water from the West now for a hundred years, maybe it’s time to start taking water from the East, rather than from the West.” Another speculative proposal lies beyond the shores of California, where there’s an ocean of water available for desalinization.
End of excerpt from article:
http://www.good.is/post/lake-mead-is-drying-up/?Gt1=48001The combination of a changing climate and a strong demand for the lake’s... more-
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- 10 months ago
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World leaders fail to lead in Copenhagen
Two years of planning, two weeks of negotiating, and all we get is a worse-than-nothing deal slapped together in the last two hours.
The UN climate summit has just reached its anti-climactic close. The details of the deal reached here in Copenhagen are still being hammered out by ministers, but Heads of State are already on their way home, their photo opps and press conferences over. Even by their own admission, they have struck a deal that will not do what's necessary to stop global warming. I'm not sure that qualifies as even a half-measure. Also not really sure what else I care to say right now other than that.
But Greenpeace International executive director, Kumi Naidoo, has plenty to say:
Not fair, not ambitious and not legally binding. The job of world leaders is not done. Today they failed to avert catastrophic climate change.
The city of Copenhagen is a climate crime scene tonight, with the guilty men and women fleeing to the airport in shame. World leaders had a once in a generation chance to change the world for good, to avert catastrophic climate change. In the end they produced a poor deal full of loopholes big enough to fly Air Force One through.
We have seen a year of crises, but today it is clear that the biggest one facing humanity is a leadership crisis.
During the year a number developing countries showed a willingness to accept their share of the burden to avert climate chaos. But in the end, the blame for failure mostly lies with the rich industrialized world, countries which have the largest historic responsibility for causing the problem. In particular, the US failed to take any real leadership and dragged the talks down.
Climate science says we have only a few years left to halt the rise in emissions before making the kind of rapid reductions that would give us the best chance of avoiding dangerous climate change. We cannot change that science, so instead we will have to change the politics — and we may well have to change the politicians.
This is not over, people everywhere demanded a real deal before the Summit began and they are still demanding it. We can still save hundreds of millions of people from the devastation of a warming world, but it has just become a whole lot harder.
Civil society, the bulk of which was locked out of the final days of this Climate Summit, now needs to redouble its efforts. Each and every one of us must hold our leaders to account. We must take the struggle to avert climate catastrophe into every level of politics, local, regional, national and international. We also need to take it into the board room and onto the high streets.
Excerpt from:World leaders leave their work unfinished in Copenhagen
Posted by: mikeg | 18 Dec 09 |Two years of planning, two weeks of negotiating, and all we get is a... more-
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Young people urge world leaders to combat climate change
Nearly 90 per cent of young people across the globe think world leaders should do "whatever it takes" to tackle climate change. This is among the top findings of a new poll conducted on behalf of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The survey of 12 to 18 year-olds in five countries (Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa and the United States) found that nine in ten young people (88% overall and 85% or more in each country) agree that "World leaders should do whatever it takes to tackle climate change".
Climate Change a Top Concern among Young People
Young people are clearly concerned about climate change. Concern is highest in Brazil (96%) and South Africa (91%), followed by India (85%) and the United States (82%), while significantly lower levels of concern are expressed in Russia (70%).
World Leaders Not Doing Enough
Young people in South Africa, the United States and Brazil are particularly critical of world leaders' efforts to address climate change; seven in ten or more across these three countries say world leaders are not doing enough (South Africa, 82%; the United States, 79%; Brazil, 73%). Only in India are young people more likely to say world leaders are doing "too much" or "enough;" just 19 percent say they are not doing enough.
Necessary to Take Major Steps Very Soon
There is a great sense of urgency among youth in most countries, with a majority of young people in each country except India saying, "It is necessary to take major steps starting very soon" (Brazil, 88%; South Africa, 81%; Russia, 75%; the United States, 61%). When thinking about the human impact on climate change in India, most young people believe that modest steps should be taken over the coming years (53%). This reinforces their world view that enough is being done on climate change.
Young People Feel Empowered to Act
Four in five youths surveyed believe they can make a difference on climate for our future (89%); however, a majority also say they need more information about what they can do to tackle climate change (84%).
Those in Brazil, India, South Africa, and the United States are most enthusiastic about making a difference and wanting more information in order to do so, while those in Russia are less likely to agree (with 77% saying they can make a difference).
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UNEP comments, "I am very pleased to note the high level of awareness on climate change among 12 to 18-year olds. These are the voices of the generation that will inherit the impacts of climate change if world leaders fail to act. It is clear from the survey that young people around the world are seriously worried about what climate change will mean in terms of their future on this planet. Through them, we can reach out to the approximately 3 billion people around the planet who are under 25. There are some 400 days to go before the crucial UN climate convention meeting in Copenhagen-world leaders have now heard the concerns of young people. This generation must now take responsibility for the next".
Chris Coulter, Vice-President of GlobeScan, comments, "This is a strong and important statement from the world's youth to world leaders. It is strong because the message to political leaders and policymakers appears to be: 'Do what it takes to tackle climate change, even if major steps are needed, and act urgently because we are affected and concerned by climate change.' It is important because young people are not always well represented by world leaders, although their future is to be decided in upcoming climate agreements."
Nearly 90 per cent of young people across the globe think world leaders should do... more-
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Europeans say US lacks will on climate
As world leaders gather in New York for the highest-level conference yet on climate change, European leaders are expressing growing unease about the United States’ stance in international talks aimed at reaching a global agreement in Copenhagen in December.
Officials of several European countries have cited what they see as a lack of political will on the part of the United States to adequately address climate change. The American reluctance to accept any agreement that would require legally binding and internationally enforceable targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions could doom the Copenhagen session, they said.
Ahead of this week’s climate talks at the United Nations, the Europeans also expressed little hope that the United States Senate would act on a climate bill before the Copenhagen talks begin. They said the lack of domestic consensus sows doubt about whether the United States can keep any pledges it makes at Copenhagen, either on the level of reductions in global warming emissions or on financial commitments to help developing nations adapt to a changing climate.
Inaction in the Senate also limits the flexibility of America’s chief climate negotiator, Todd Stern.
The Obama administration is trying to satisfy European demands for firm targets and timetables, while reassuring a wary Senate that it is not signing on to a system that would impose steep economic costs on the United States that are not shared by developing countries like China and India.
Although the administration and its allies in Congress say they are deeply committed to meaningful action on climate change, they do not want to repeat the experience of Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, when the Clinton administration signed an international agreement that was repudiated by the Senate because it made few demands on the developing world. The United States never ratified the agreement, called the Kyoto Protocol.
John Ashton, the British foreign secretary’s special representative for climate change, said several large gaps need to be closed among the major industrialized countries before there could be any hope of success in Copenhagen.
Chief among them, he said, is the “ambition gap” between the United States and the nations of the European Union. While the United States discusses the broad outlines of climate policy, the Europeans have already pledged to cut their emissions by 20 percent by 2020, and more deeply if there is an international agreement.
The Europeans say a bill passed by the House in June showed American goodwill but still fell short of the European target and what scientists say is necessary to limit global temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius over the planet’s temperature early in the Industrial Revolution, which means limiting future changes to about 2 degrees Fahrenheit above current temperatures. This limit is the internationally accepted goal.
The Senate has yet to act, but its targets are likely to be less ambitious.
Mr. Ashton said that the path forward is clear, but that politics are hampering movement in the United States and several other large countries. “There is no technological obstacle. There is no macroeconomic obstacle,” said Mr. Ashton, in Washington late last week for a meeting of major industrial countries on climate change. “The barriers are political.”
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Ceremony marks 'death' of Australia's greatest river
Thousands of people rallied in southern Australia Sunday to protest the dwindling water levels in one of the country's greatest rivers, claiming the loss was causing an environmental disaster.
The 5,000-strong crowd gathered near the mouth of the 2,530 kilometre (1,569 mile) Murray to hold two minute's silence to mark the 'death' of the river, which forms part of Australia's most important agricultural region.
Kym McHugh, mayor of the local Alexandrina Council, said the ceremony near the South Australian town of Goolwa was to "underscore this eleventh hour bid to save the nation's greatest river." "It sent a very clear message by saying we've had a lot of talk about the river system, a lot of science, we all know what the problem is -- we just want politicians to have the will to fix it up," he told national news agency AAP.
"They need to secure water upstream and send it down."
Water levels are so low in the Murray River, due to drought and irrigation, that the freshwater lakes the river feeds into are turning to acid.
The federal government last week said there was not enough water in the system to save the freshwater lakes, leading to suggestions that ocean water could be used to prevent the lakes from drying out.
But the council wants the government to release water held in storage in upstream states into the river so it can flow down and prevent an environmental, economic and social disaster in the region.
"We need to give these lakes another chance," McHugh said.
The Murray, along with the 2,740-kilometre Darling River and 1,690-kilometre Murrumbidgee River, form the Murray Darling Basin, which accounts for some 40 percent of the nation's agricultural production.
photo credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95438214@N00/2306721603/Thousands of people rallied in southern Australia Sunday to protest the dwindling... more-
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Drastic changes to life on Earth caused by global warming, confirm NASA scientists
Global warming is already leading to widespread disruptions of the Earth's natural systems, according to a study published in the journal Nature and conducted by some of the climate scientists who were involved in the influential 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.
"[This] is the first [study] to formally link observed global changes in physical and biological systems to human-induced climate change, predominantly from increasing greenhouse gases," said study reviewers Francis Zwiers of Environment Canada and Gabriele Hegerl of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
The scientists catalogued more than 29,500 reports of changes to the Earth's natural systems. Some of these changes were physical, such as the melting of Patagonia's ice fields of Arctic permafrost, or the earlier break-up of Mongolian river ice and unprecedented coastal erosion. Others were behavioral, such as the earlier arrival of migratory birds to Australia, and others dealt with changes in populations, such as the decline of Antarctic krill stocks and overall productivity of Lake Tanganyika. Even genetic changes, such as those in North America's pitcher plant mosquitoes, were included.
The researchers found that more than 90 percent of the documented changes were to be expected from a scenario of rising regional temperatures. Global warming, rather than other human causes such as deforestation or pollution, seemed to be the major force behind the changes.
more at the link.
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This must now become more than just a political wedge issue. This must be the end of governments and groups placating flatearthers and special interests who are using their $$$$$ to control the conversation. This must be the end of governments and organizations like the World Bank using this crisis as an impetus to benefit themselves and to foment war. They are all leading us over the cliff. Global warming/climate change is doing damage to the many ecosystems that support the life of humans and other species.
There are currently six degrees of climate change that represent the effects this planet will suffer from due to global warming/climate change. Currently, we are at the third degree... we are already HALFWAY THERE. As the last quote in this article states, we have to get our act together. And it is not overly dramatic to state that we are running out of time regarding the future sustainability of this planet. This is not something that is just occurring through natural means nor has it been ordained by God. This is not just some fluke of nature that will reverse itself. This is not a myth or an illusion. This is real, it is happening, and we are contributing to it not only by our behavior but by our retiscence in taking the action necessary to mitigate it.
How many 'meetings' are world leaders going to have before they realize that they have run out the clock? How many political candidates will continue to spew the same 80% by 2050 line? I recently wrote to my Senator about the need for 100% renewable energy in 10 years... know the response I got? The same form letter with that same 80% by 2050 line! Where is the political will? Where is the urgency? And people dare to criticize those who scale coal plants to unfurl a dire warning as to the truth of the state of the only planet that can sustain us to wake people up?
Just what is it going to take?Global warming is already leading to widespread disruptions of the Earth's... more-
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Climate change is 'faster and more extreme' than feared
'Extreme weather events' such as the hot summer of 2003, which caused an extra 35,000 deaths across southern Europe from heat stress and poor air quality, will happen more frequently.
Britain and the North Sea area will be hit more often by violent cyclones and the predicted rise in sea level will double to more than a metre, putting vast coastal areas at risk from flooding.
The bleak report from WWF - formerly the World Wildlife Fund - also predicts crops failures and the collapse of eco systems on both land and sea.
And it calls on the EU to set an example to the rest of the world by agreeing a package of challenging targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions to tackle the consequences of climate change and to keep any increase in global temperatures below 2C.
The agency says that the 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - a study of global warming by 4,000 scientists from more than 150 countries which alerted the world to the possible consequences of global warming - is now out of date.
WWF's report, Climate Change: Faster, stronger, sooner, has updated all the scientific data and concluded that global warming is accelerating far beyond the IPCC's forecasts.
As an example it says the first 'tipping point' may have already been reached in the Arctic, where sea ice is disappearing up to 30 years ahead of IPCC predictions and may be gone completely within five years - something that hasn't occurred for a million years.
It could result in rapid and abrupt climate change rather than the gradual changes forecast by the IPCC.
The findings include:
* Global sea level rise could more than double from the IPCC's estimate of 0.59m by the end of the century.
* Natural carbon sinks, such as forests and oceans, are losing their ability to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere faster than expected.
* Rising temperatures have already led to a major reduction in food crops resulting in losses of 40m tonnes of grain per year.
* Marine ecosystems in the North and Baltic Sea are being exposed to the warmest temperatures measured since records began.
* The number and intensity of extreme cyclones over the UK and North Sea are projected to increase, leading to increased wind speeds and storm-related losses over Western and Central Europe.
The report was issued to coincide with a meeting of EU Environment Ministers today to discuss new laws aimed at tackling climate change. Some countries, including Italy and Poland, have already rejected proposals for higher cuts in emissions claiming they are unaffordable and unrealistic when many countries are facing recession.
The UK is the only country so far to commit to a legally binding 80 per cent cut in emissions by 2050 which the Government claims can be achieved by a switch to renewable energy sources - such as wind and wave - combined with a new generation of nuclear power stations.
In the report WWF urges the EU to commit to a reduction target of at least 30 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 without relying on offsetting overseas and to provide financial support so developing countries can cut their own emissions and prepare for unavoidable impacts of climate change.
WWF-UK's Head of Climate Change, Dr. Keith Allott, said: "Climate change is a major challenge to the future of mankind and the environment, and this sobering overview highlights just how critical it is that EU environment ministers, who are meeting today to discuss EU legislation to tackle climate change, commit to a strong climate and energy package, in order to ensure a low carbon future.
'Extreme weather events' such as the hot summer of 2003, which caused an... more-
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Australian PM warned over 'hell to highwater state'
Global warming/climate change is not only moving at an excelerated pace in Australia but on every other continent including the Arctic. To continue to dispute its presence is to be ignorant of the facts. Scientists around the world have been warning us of the repercussions of denial and apathy for years. These warnings can no longer be ignored. The cost of doing so is too great for the planet as a whole regarding the survival of our species and all others.
So this thread is not to once again rehash the same BS about whether it is manmade or not to push a partisan political agenda or grudge. I am SO DONE with that. This thread is for serious people who understand the urgency of this crisis and its effects on this planet and our species who actually want to do something about it.
The recent tragedy in Australia regarding wildfires that were the worst ever there and may not be over, had the ground work for their ferocity and tragedy laid out by years of severe drying and drought resulting from climate change. Climate change one spark made into a hell on Earth. The Murray-Darling River basin is also a stark example of those severe effects. For anyone to look at that dwindling river that was declared dead just a few months ago and still deny that there is something more to this than just a 'usual dry summer' is someone who clearly cannot or will not understand the changing face of this planet due to our neglect and greed.
We cannot claim to be an evolving species if we continue to deny the consequences of our actions and not work to adjust those actions to the perceived outcome. Therefore, if you truly do care for what climate change is doing to this planet and want to do something about it, please respond here and tell Current what it is you plan to do this year to wake up politicians to the urgency of this crisis and demand action.
This is not just some topic people who care cavalierly put here simply to have something to talk about to kill some online time. This is about the world our children will inherit. There is nothing more important than that. We have nothing else without a sustainable planet and there is no more time to waste in that goal.Global warming/climate change is not only moving at an excelerated pace in Australia... more-
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