Almost two-thirds of people worldwide believe the climate crisis is an emergency. We know what needs to be done, and should be confident that we will be able to achieve it, thanks to the rapid advance of renewable technologies. Collectively, we can also muster the money to do it.
Hundreds of the world’s leading climate scientists expect global temperatures to rise to at least 2.5C (4.5F) this century, blasting past internationally agreed targets and causing catastrophic consequences for humanity and the planet, an exclusive Guardian survey has revealed.
The race to save the planet is being impeded by a global economy that is contingent on the exploitation of people and nature, according to the UN’s outgoing leading environment and human rights expert.
"Victims of #ClimateChange in #LatinAmerica are bringing their complaints to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The findings of the court could help shape better policy and laws, saving countless lives and bolstering infrastructure."
"Forty-eight people died in #Guangdong province after a landslide swept away a section of freeway. Officials say the particularly intense #rainfall is linked to #ClimateChange."
" Mass #floods in #Russia have thrown a spotlight on the country’s approach to managing the increasing risks it faces from #ClimateChange.
"Within days temperatures went from zero to 17, 18 and even 20 degrees [Celsius]. And that's what caused a very, very rapid snowmelt," Shahgedanova explained."
Stefan Rahmstorf (@rahmstorf), professor of Physics at Potsdam University and Head of Earth System Analysis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, is an expert on the oceans.
Here he offers an answer to the question: "Is the Atlantic Overturning Circulation Approaching a Tipping Point?"
INTRODUCTION: The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation [AMOC] has a major impact on climate, not just in the northern Atlantic but globally. Paleoclimatic data show it has been unstable in the past, leading to some of the most dramatic and abrupt climate shifts known. These instabilities are due to two different types of tipping points, one linked to amplifying feedbacks in the large-scale salt transport and the other in the convective mixing that drives the flow. These tipping points present a major risk of abrupt ocean circulation and climate shifts as we push our planet further out of the stable Holocene climate into uncharted waters.