Posts in climate change
A third of plants and animals risk mass extinction

Climate News Network

February 25, 2020
Within 50 years, a third of all plant and animal species could be caught up in a mass extinction, as a consequence of climate change driven by ever-rising temperatures. What is new about this warning is the method, the precision, the timetable and the identification of a cause.

And – entirely felicitously – support for the prediction is backed by a series of separate studies of individual species survival in a world rapidly warming because of human commitment to fossil fuels.

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5 reasons why CEOs must care about safeguarding nature

World Economic Forum

February 25, 2020
At the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in January this year, there was unprecedented interest in and commitment to fighting the climate and nature emergencies facing humanity. Although the world’s 7.6 billion people represent just 0.01% of all living things by weight, humanity has already caused the loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half of all plants. Supporting the concept of stakeholder capitalism, leading CEOs, government leaders and heads of civil society organizations came together in the Swiss Alps to galvanize support for an integrated nature action agenda across the issues of climate, biodiversity, forests, oceans and sustainable development.

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Climate change could be a 'catastrophic' national security threat, report warns

USA Today

February 24, 2020
Climate change could turn into a "catastrophic" threat to national and global security in the coming decades, warns a report released Monday.

"Even at scenarios of low warming, each region of the world will face severe risks to national and global security in the next three decades," the report says. "Higher levels of warming will pose catastrophic, and likely irreversible, global security risks over the course of the 21st century."

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Natural Climate Solutions: How 4 global companies leverage nature to tackle the climate crisis

GreenBiz

February 24, 2020
It’s 2020. We’ve officially entered the defining decade to tackle the climate crisis. As businesses ramp up climate action commitments through science-based targets and net-zero or carbon neutral goals, they are realizing there are untapped opportunities to work with nature instead of against it. Nature-based climate solutions will provide the lever of change to make faster progress toward those goals, and it just might help them go above and beyond.

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We have a chance to halt biodiversity loss. The stakes have never been higher

The Guardian

February 24, 2020
Negotiations over a 10-year agenda for nature are about to begin. Our ecological future depends on the engagement of every global citizen.

The year 2020 has been designated a “super year for nature”, when the global community will rededicate itself to halting biodiversity loss with a 10-year action agenda, scheduled for agreement at the conference of the parties to the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) in Kunming in China in October.

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For Forest Survival, Corporations Are Accountable To Uphold Indigenous Land Rights

International Business Times - OpEd

February 22, 2020
As climate change deepens, forests –– those lush, abundant, mysterious stands of trees that for millennia have quietly produced the air we breathe and the water we drink –– have never been more critical to our survival. It’s become clear that,  as leading scientists have said, “Our planet’s future climate is inextricably tied to the future of its forests.” For a climate stable future, we must keep forests standing, as they are one of the most effective tools we have to combat climate change. Thankfully, the basic prescription for saving much of the world’s forests is refreshingly simple: hold corporations accountable for their role in driving deforestation and uphold Indigenous rights to their ancestral lands. 

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Indigenous people, human rights, climate change, business, biodiversityGuest UserIndigenous peoples, Indigenous rights, business, forests, climate change, biodiversity, indigenous lands
As Planet Burns, One Million Species in World’s Eco-System in Danger of Extinction

Inter Press Service

February 18, 2020
When UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the 193-member General Assembly last December, he focused on the smoldering climate crisis– pointing out that the last five years have been the hottest ever recorded.

Ice caps are melting, he said, In Greenland alone, 179 billion tonnes of ice melted in July. Permafrost in the Arctic is thawing 70 years ahead of projections. Antarctica is melting three times as fast as a decade ago.

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Earth's coral reefs could be gone by 2100, research finds

NBC News

February 18, 2020
Climate change could wipe out almost all coral reef habitats around the world by 2100, according to research released Monday.

The bleak outlook forecasts that warming oceans and rising seas could have a devastating impact on ocean ecosystems, suggesting that efforts to restore dying corals will likely encounter difficulties as global warming continues to wipe out habitats that could once support healthy reef systems.

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coral reefs, oceans, habitat destruction, climate change, biodiversity lossGuest Usercoral reefs, climate change, habitat destruction, oceans
The End of Australia as We Know It

The New York Times

February 15, 2020
In a country where there has always been more space than people, where the land and wildlife are cherished like a Picasso, nature is closing in. Fueled by climate change and the world’s refusal to address it, the fires that have burned across Australia are not just destroying lives, or turning forests as large as nations into ashen moonscapes.

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How Native Tribes Are Taking the Lead on Planning for Climate Change

Yale Environment360

February 11, 2020
With their deep ties to the land and reliance on fishing, hunting, and gathering, indigenous tribes are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Now, native communities across North America are stepping up to adopt climate action plans to protect their way of life.

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The world’s oceans are speeding up — another mega-scale consequence of climate change

The Washington Post

February 5, 2020
Three-quarters of the world’s ocean waters have sped up their pace in recent decades, scientists reported Wednesday, a massive development that was not expected to occur until climate warming became much more advanced.

The change is being driven by faster winds, which are adding more energy to the surface of the ocean. That, in turn, produces faster currents and an acceleration of ocean circulation.

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