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Leaked IPCC report links climate change to global food scarcity

Leaked IPCC report links climate change to global food scarcity

It’s a human-centric approach, but the prospect of a food scare should be one way to get people—believers and deniers alike—to seriously evaluate the effects of climate change. Last week, a source leaked a draft report, drawn up by the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and due to be released next March. It’s the second of three reports, following the first that came out in September this year. Among other things, the text clearly outlines the threats climate change poses to the global food supply, citing a decrease of up to 2% each decade in yields of staple crops like maize, wheat, and rice.

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CNN Report: Climate change may pose threat to economic growth

CNN Report: Climate change may pose threat to economic growth

Hong Kong (CNN) — Nearly a third of the world’s economic output will come from countries facing “high” to “extreme” risks from the impacts of climate change within 12 years, according to a new report. The Climate Change Vulnerability Index, an annual report produced by UK-based risk analysis firm Maplecroft, found that climate change “may pose a serious obstacle to sustainable economic growth in the world’s most commercially important cities.”

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EU environment ministers call for ‘ambitious’ 2030 climate goals

EU environment ministers call for ‘ambitious’ 2030 climate goals

Thirteen European environment ministers and dozens of business leaders urged the European Union on Monday to adopt “ambitious”energy and climate goals for 2030 to create a low-carbon economy inEurope to spur investment. In a 40-page document released at a green growth conference in Brussels, they also said the 28-nation bloc should reform the structure of the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS) and offer a strict emissions cut pledge at a climate summit next autumn. 

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China hit by another airpocalypse as air pollution cancer link confirmed

China hit by another airpocalypse as air pollution cancer link confirmed

Cityscapes shrouded in thick smog have become a common scene inChina. Last winter, Beijing’s ‘airpocalypse‘ garnered headlines worldwide and generated much anger and debate within China. But this week, air pollution levels in the northeastern city of Harbin surpassed the previous record levels in Beijing. The city was essentially shut down after PM2.5, fine particulate pollutionthat is considered hazardous, reached levels of 1,000 micrograms per cubic metre – 40 times the safety level recommended by the World Health Organisation. Schools, motorways and an airport were closed on Tuesday as visibility in some areas of the city dropped to less than 10 metres.

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Natural Disasters Keep People Poor

Natural Disasters Keep People Poor

Natural disasters that have smacked Southeast Asia recently have killed scores of people and left severe damage in their wake. Recovery has begun, but the dent these events leave on the region’s economies could derail international efforts to eradicate poverty, according to a recent report that looks at how climate change and exposure to severe weather impact different countries.

“As temperatures warm, many of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens will face increased risks associated with more intense or protracted droughts, extreme rainfall and heat waves,” notes the joint report by London-based think-tank the Overseas Development Institute, Met Office and Risk Management Solutions, a software company that helps reinsurers and other financial institutions to quantify and manage catastrophic risks.

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IPCC draft report warns Australia will be a hot spot as world gets warmer

IPCC draft report warns Australia will be a hot spot as world gets warmer

THE number of people expected to die in Sydney from extreme heat will triple by the end of the century, a leaked draft report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warnsAnother 800,000 people will fall ill year from contaminated food and water – while more than 270,000 homes will be at risk of collapsing into the ocean from rising sea levels. The unreleased draft of the IPCC’s second report also warns that $226 billion worth of coastal assets including homes, rail and road infrastructure are at risk with just a 1.1m rise in sea levels.

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