Here are some extracts from Transition Langport Newsletter.
These two items caught my attention and are worth posting here for anyone interested in the future of wildlife in our beautiful Somerset.
South Somerset Climate Action campaigns for sustainable - and better - communities which will involve: reliable food supplies; protection and careful use of our biological heritage, forests, fresh water & oceans, fuels and minerals; renewable energy generation; waste limitation and pollution control.
The report Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided is a result of contributions from a wide range of experts from across the globe. We thank everyone who contributed to its richness and multidisciplinary outlook.
Foreword
It is my hope that this report shocks us into action. Even for those of us already committed to fighting climate change, I hope it causes us to work with much more urgency.
This report spells out what the world would be like if it warmed by 4 degrees Celsius, which is what scientists are nearly unanimously predicting by the end of the century, without serious policy changes.
The 4°C scenarios are devastating: the inundation of coastal cities; increasing risks for food production potentially leading to higher malnutrition rates; many dry regions becoming dryer, wet regions wetter; unprecedented heat waves in many regions, especially in the tropics; substantially exacerbated water scarcity in many regions; increased frequency of high-intensity tropical cyclones; and irreversible loss of biodiversity, including coral reef systems.
And most importantly, a 4°C world is so different from the current one that it comes with high uncertainty and new risks that threaten our ability to anticipate and plan for future adaptation needs.
The lack of action on climate change not only risks putting prosperity out of reach of millions of people in the developing world, it threatens to roll back decades of sustainable development.
It is clear that we already know a great deal about the threat before us. The science is unequivocal that humans are the cause of global warming, and major changes are already being observed: global mean warming is 0.8°C above pre industrial levels; oceans have warmed by 0.09°C since the 1950s and are acidifying; sea levels rose by about 20 cm since pre-industrial times and are now rising at 3.2 cm per decade; an exceptional number of extreme heat waves occurred in the last decade; major food crop growing areas are increasingly affected by drought.
Despite the global community’s best intentions to keep global warming below a 2°C increase above pre-industrial climate, higher levels of warming are increasingly likely. Scientists agree that countries’ cur- rent United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change emission pledges and commitments would most likely result in 3.5 to 4°C warming. And the longer those pledges remain unmet, the more likely a 4°C world becomes.
Data and evidence drive the work of the World Bank Group. Science reports, including those produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, informed our decision to ramp up work on these issues, leading to, a World Development Report on climate change designed to improve our understanding of the implications of a warming planet; a Strategic Framework on Development and Climate Change, and a report on Inclusive Green Growth. The World Bank is a leading advocate for ambitious action on climate change, not only because it is a moral imperative, but because it makes good economic sense.
But what if we fail to ramp up efforts on mitigation? What are the implications of a 4°C world? We commissioned this report from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics to help us understand the state of the science and the potential impact on development in such a world.
These two items caught my attention and are worth posting here for anyone interested in the future of wildlife in our beautiful Somerset.
South Somerset Climate Action campaigns for sustainable - and better - communities which will involve: reliable food supplies; protection and careful use of our biological heritage, forests, fresh water & oceans, fuels and minerals; renewable energy generation; waste limitation and pollution control.
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Hello All,
I only came across the World Bank's recent report 'Turn down the Heat' by accident when I was reading through the Guardian's 'Climate Change' articles. Since the World Bank is hardly one of those left-wing organisations that the UK media love to deride, you might have thought that we would have heard about the report before now. However, I could not, for example, find any reference to it in the BBC's news and current affairs coverage - but then I guess that avoiding 4 degrees C of global warming is too trivial a matter to be placed before the British public. Anyway here is the link to the World Bank's report:
http://climatechange.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/Turn_Down_the_heat_Why_a_4_degree_centrigrade_warmer_world_must_be_avoided.pdf
Even if it is not considered sufficiently important by the BBC, Sky News and newspapers other than the Guardian, perhaps you know of ways to get the report in front of more people than it would otherwise reach?
Best wishes,
Peter R
I only came across the World Bank's recent report 'Turn down the Heat' by accident when I was reading through the Guardian's 'Climate Change' articles. Since the World Bank is hardly one of those left-wing organisations that the UK media love to deride, you might have thought that we would have heard about the report before now. However, I could not, for example, find any reference to it in the BBC's news and current affairs coverage - but then I guess that avoiding 4 degrees C of global warming is too trivial a matter to be placed before the British public. Anyway here is the link to the World Bank's report:
http://climatechange.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/Turn_Down_the_heat_Why_a_4_degree_centrigrade_warmer_world_must_be_avoided.pdf
Even if it is not considered sufficiently important by the BBC, Sky News and newspapers other than the Guardian, perhaps you know of ways to get the report in front of more people than it would otherwise reach?
Best wishes,
Peter R
The report Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided is a result of contributions from a wide range of experts from across the globe. We thank everyone who contributed to its richness and multidisciplinary outlook.
Foreword
It is my hope that this report shocks us into action. Even for those of us already committed to fighting climate change, I hope it causes us to work with much more urgency.
This report spells out what the world would be like if it warmed by 4 degrees Celsius, which is what scientists are nearly unanimously predicting by the end of the century, without serious policy changes.
The 4°C scenarios are devastating: the inundation of coastal cities; increasing risks for food production potentially leading to higher malnutrition rates; many dry regions becoming dryer, wet regions wetter; unprecedented heat waves in many regions, especially in the tropics; substantially exacerbated water scarcity in many regions; increased frequency of high-intensity tropical cyclones; and irreversible loss of biodiversity, including coral reef systems.
And most importantly, a 4°C world is so different from the current one that it comes with high uncertainty and new risks that threaten our ability to anticipate and plan for future adaptation needs.
The lack of action on climate change not only risks putting prosperity out of reach of millions of people in the developing world, it threatens to roll back decades of sustainable development.
It is clear that we already know a great deal about the threat before us. The science is unequivocal that humans are the cause of global warming, and major changes are already being observed: global mean warming is 0.8°C above pre industrial levels; oceans have warmed by 0.09°C since the 1950s and are acidifying; sea levels rose by about 20 cm since pre-industrial times and are now rising at 3.2 cm per decade; an exceptional number of extreme heat waves occurred in the last decade; major food crop growing areas are increasingly affected by drought.
Despite the global community’s best intentions to keep global warming below a 2°C increase above pre-industrial climate, higher levels of warming are increasingly likely. Scientists agree that countries’ cur- rent United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change emission pledges and commitments would most likely result in 3.5 to 4°C warming. And the longer those pledges remain unmet, the more likely a 4°C world becomes.
Data and evidence drive the work of the World Bank Group. Science reports, including those produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, informed our decision to ramp up work on these issues, leading to, a World Development Report on climate change designed to improve our understanding of the implications of a warming planet; a Strategic Framework on Development and Climate Change, and a report on Inclusive Green Growth. The World Bank is a leading advocate for ambitious action on climate change, not only because it is a moral imperative, but because it makes good economic sense.
But what if we fail to ramp up efforts on mitigation? What are the implications of a 4°C world? We commissioned this report from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics to help us understand the state of the science and the potential impact on development in such a world.
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