The word out of Bonn, where the latest United Nations Climate summit came to an end Nov. 18, is hardly encouraging. Assuming that countries honor their commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions made to date, the globe's temperature will still rise at least 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) this century, 1 degree Celsius above the agreement established at the Paris … [Read more...] about Stepping Up the Struggle Against Climate Change
Environment and Climate Change
Bracing for Impact: Preparing Nations for Natural Disasters
The lashing rains and 185-mile-per-hour winds pounding the Caribbean from Hurricane Irma; the toppled homes and flooded streets in Texas and Louisiana from Hurricane Harvey, with its tens of thousands of people made homeless and billions of dollars in property losses: it's hard to imagine things getting much worse. Unfortunately, they almost surely will. If scientists agree … [Read more...] about Bracing for Impact: Preparing Nations for Natural Disasters
Modeling Tradeoffs in the Fight Against Climate Change
Mexico was the world's first developing nation to commit. The rest of Latin America and the Caribbean followed. Taking stock of climate change’s effects on sea rise, extreme weather, crop failures and disease, the region united at the 2015 United Nations climate summit in Paris to pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lay out paths for doing so. Now, governments face … [Read more...] about Modeling Tradeoffs in the Fight Against Climate Change
Fighting the Fossil Fuel Addiction
For a region that is very vulnerable to climate change, Latin America remains highly dependent on fossil fuels. Around 40% of the region's energy generation still comes from oil, natural gas, and coal. Moreover, supporting fossil fuels is costly to governments. According to a paper by the International Monetary Fund, the average country in the region spends around 1% of its GDP … [Read more...] about Fighting the Fossil Fuel Addiction
Global Warming: Why a Couple Degrees Makes All the Difference
What's the big fuss over 2 degrees Celsius? That's the temperature increase to which 195 countries agreed to limit global warming at the 2015 Paris climate talks. And it would seem to be trivial. A 2-degrees-Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) increase from 4.4 to 6.4 Celsius (40-43.6 Fahrenheit), after all, doesn't have us shedding our Shetland sweaters for shorts and a tank top. … [Read more...] about Global Warming: Why a Couple Degrees Makes All the Difference