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Next Climate Panel Report on Global Warming Impacts

Scientists and diplomats are meeting in Yokohama, Japan, this week to hash out any final tweaks to the summary of the forthcoming Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on current and anticipated impacts of human-driven global warming on people and ecosystems. The final summary will be released on March 31. It’s worth waiting until then, given the tendency for advance leaks to be selectively torqued toward “it’s worse than we thought” or “no worries” themes. But there are interesting hints emerging amid the noise.

Obama Turns to Web to Illustrate the Effects of a Changing Climate

President Obama wants Americans to see how climate change could deluge or destroy their own backyards — and to make it as easy as opening a web-based app. As part of an effort to make the public see global warming as a tangible and immediate problem, the White House on Wednesday inaugurated a website, climate.data.gov, aimed at turning scientific data about projected droughts and wildfires and the rise in sea levels into eye-catching digital presentations that can be mapped using simple software apps. The project is the brainchild of Mr. Obama’s counselor, John D. Podesta, and the White House science adviser, John P. Holdren.

Climate change: we’ve put off the difficult decisions for too long

Climate change is rarely too far from the headlines, whether it is in connection with the ongoing debate about how we meet our energy needs or discussion of the prevailing weather – the latter being one of our defining national pastimes. But the headlines do not always represent an accurate picture of what we know about climate science, instead focusing more on those who either want to ignore the evidence and carry on as we are, or those who predict extreme catastrophe. Fortunately, in the UK we generally take science seriously. The latest polling data released by the government shows that a large majority of people in the UK realise that climate scientists have shown that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide – released in the burning of fossil fuels – trap heat in our atmosphere and warm the earth.

Cambiamenti climatici, la percezione degli europei

di Carlo Carraro

L’Eurobarometro ha pubblicato la scorsa settimana un sondaggio speciale che indaga la percezione degli europei nei confronti del tema dei cambiamenti climatici. Il rapporto, che segue le indagini condotte allo stesso scopo nel 2008, 2009 e 2011, è stato prodotto grazie alle interviste fatte a 27.919 rispondenti di diversi gruppi sociodemografici, distribuiti nei 28 Paesi Membri dell’Unione Europea. Gli intervistati sono stati invitati a svelare la loro percezione del problema dei cambiamenti climatici e la loro opinione sulle responsabilità nell’affrontarli, ad indicare le azioni da loro messe in atto quotidianamente per combatterli e a comunicare le loro idee riguardo al ruolo delle istituzioni pubbliche nel campo della mitigazione.

China tells rich to do more to lead fight against climate change

China, the top greenhouse gas emitter, urged rich nations on Thursday to do more to lead the fight against climate change and help avert heatwaves, floods and rising sea levels. In a submission to the United Nations before a March 10-14 meeting of governments in Germany, Beijing called on developed countries to make deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and increase aid to help the poor tackle global warming. They should “take the lead”, it said in a document that highlighted its deep differences with the United States despite promises of greater cooperation between the two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases.

Air pollution: European commission launches legal action against the UK

The UK faces fines of up to £300m a year and embarrassing court appearances after the European commission launched legal proceedings against it for failing to reduce “excessive” levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution from traffic, despite 15 years of warnings and several extensions and postponements granted to the government. Other European countries have also failed to meet the air quality directive – that should have been adopted in 2008 – but the EU environment commissioner, Janez Potočnik, has singled Britain out for its “persistent” breaches of the air quality directive. The government has been sent a letter of formal notice of the intention to take Britain to court. The UK has been given two months to respond.