Welcome ! As a young French Marketing professional with a Master's in International Management I have been selecting since January 2007 the latest headlines and best researches on sustainable development, climate change, cleantech and the world energy sector. Sounds great ? Don't hesitate to subscribe now !
With current outdoors temperatures below the freezing point in large parts of Europe, it is easy to think that climate change is either a hoax or that it will be most welcome as it would get us rid of those patches of ice on the roads.
This won’t be the case as the Independent reports : “The bitterly cold weather sweeping Britain and (…) Europe has been linked by scientists with the ice-free seas of the Arctic, where global warming is exerting its greatest influence.”
This is another example of climate change’s influence on weather extremes, and thus another reason to tackle the problem before it really gets out of our control. Continue »
According to RIA Novosti – the Russian state-owned news agency – quoting the local emergencies ministry : ” Temperatures in Russia in the past century rose at twice the rate of warming in the rest of the world “
The article goes further : ” (…) In addition, as compared to the 100-year trend, the rate of warming grew several times, annual precipitation figures are growing… as is the frequency and intensity of flooding.”
” (…) Water resources will increase in regions with higher precipitation, while arid zones, on the contrary, will face further precipitation decline.”
To Reuters quoting a local scientific report : ” Global warming threatens China’s march to prosperity by cutting crops, shrinking rivers and unleashing more droughts and floods. “
“China faces extremely grim ecological and environmental conditions under the impact of continued global warming and changes to China’s regional environment,”
Given how the situation is dire already, one can wonder how it could be even worse… This sure explains why the People’s Republic is acting so massively on cleantech. Continue »
This is getting truly worrying. To TreeHugger : “The first week of the new year has seen temperatures that are in some parts of the nation nearly 40 degrees (Fahrenheit) higher than average. Which is crazy. “
The situation on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean is similar as The Guardian notes : “The first signs of spring are emerging weeks early in the countryside and in gardens as a result of the mild winter, experts said on Sunday. “
So, a year without winter ? I haven’t seen snow this year and it seems I won’t see any. After a year 2011 that was really records-setting, it seems 2012 will break even more records of heat…
To CleanTechies : ” The increased use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in the production of refrigerators, air conditioners, and other products could play a significant role in accelerating global warming “
The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) study notes that the projected emissions of HFCs by 2050 could equal nine billion tons of carbon dioxide — or about one-third of current CO2 emissions.
HFCs were introduced in the 1990s to replace chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were a threat to the ozone layer. So, this was a good idea with a strong downside. Continue »
As you sure know, the Durban Climate talks ended Sunday. There are some good news, but they are mostly bad. Good news first : The Kyoto Protocol has been extended until 2017.
Another good news : the Durban agreement was the first ever to bind all countries to act on climate change. Sure, this is merely halfway through business as usual and the needed target.
But this is the further we have ever been on climate negotiation ! Even if it won’t be enough, even if it is far from what should be done at a global level, we are going forward on climate. Continue »
Alanis Morissette once sang it : life can be ironic sometimes. This was especially the case when a few months ago a study paid by the highly polluting conglomerate of the Koch brothers showed that yes, climate change is real.
Now a poll in the United States is showing that more and more Americans are believing in climate change, and this despite the huge campaigns of disinformation. This must be due to the weirding climate…
Now let’s give the USA a couple of years more and just like every other country, they will start fighting climate change on a federal level… Will it be soon enough ? ( I doubt it since we should act NOW)
I have previously written that the link between extreme weather events and climate change wasn’t clear. It isn’t the case anymore as the latest research from the IPCC proves. As Cleantechies notes :
” A new report says that an increase in heat waves is “virtually certain” as a result of global warming and that extreme weather events — including hurricanes, floods, and droughts — will likely become more intense in the next century. “
” The IPCC’s “special report on extreme weather,” (…) urges governments worldwide to draft plans to minimize the likely human and economic costs of these events. “
As TreeHugger reports : ” emissions must peak by 2020 and be reduced “well below” 1990 levels by 2050, if we are to have a “likely” (greater than 66%) chance of keeping temperature rise below 2°C by 2100. “
” If emissions peak at 2030, we may be able to hold temperature rise to 3°C. Should emissions continue on a business-as-usual trajectory, sometime between 2040-2060 we will cross the 2°C threshold. “
I had read once that they needed to peak by 2015. I also noted previously that even a mere 2°C might be too much for all of us as carbon sinks are becoming less efficient. Continue »
I wanted to write about how I am witnessing the weirding and warming climate myself. So far, France has seen an incredibly dry spring with dramatic droughts to the point of endangering many cultures. Then, summer came, with rain, a lot of it.
It was one of the rainiest summers I had seen. You would think that it would be enough ? Nope, we had so far an unusually dry and warm fall [Fr]. Two weeks ago we had up to 20°C, 10°C above the norms.
So to sum up : drought in spring, rain in summer and warm fall, ie. completely messed up seasons. I wonder what our climate will look like in 2030 and beyond if it goes on like this…
