Global warming threat cut slightly, still severe: study

[Buster's Uncle]

Global warming threat cut slightly, still severe: study
Reuters  December 8, 2014 5:41 PM



LIMA (Reuters) - Projected global warming this century has slowed but is still at a severe rate after promises by China, the United States and the European Union to limit greenhouse gas emissions, a scientific study showed on Monday.

The Climate Action Tracker, produced by an independent group of scientists, said temperatures were set to rise by about 3 degrees Celsius (5.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times by 2100, the lowest since the tracker was set up to monitor promises made by governments in 2009.

The study, issued during U.N. talks on global warming in Lima, said the rate was 0.2 to 0.4C less than projected after pledges by China, the United States and the European Union in recent weeks to rein in emissions.

Even so, a warming of 3C would cause far more extreme weather such as heatwaves and storms, disrupt food and water supplies and accelerate a thaw of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, according to a U.N. panel of climate scientists.

And it is far above a goal set by almost 200 nations in 2010 of limiting average surface warming to 2C, viewed as a threshold for ever more damaging disruptions to the climate.

Temperatures have already risen about 0.9C since the late 19th century, according to the U.N. panel of climate scientists.

Still, scientists involved in the tracker said pledges by the top emitters marked progress in the right direction for the talks in Peru, where about 190 nations are working on a deal to rein in emissions to be agreed in Paris in a year's time.

"This represents a very important first step," said Bill Hare, of Climate Analytics which compiles the tracker with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Ecofys and the NewClimate Institute.

China promised last month that its emissions will peak around 2030 and the United States agreed to aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

In October, the European Union said it would cut its emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Many other nations have yet to outline their planned cuts as part of the Paris deal.

Niklas Hoehne, of the NewClimate Institute, said there were still many uncertainties - Beijing, for instance, has not indicated the size of its emissions by 2030.

(Reporting By Alister Doyle; Editing by Alan Crosby and Andrew Hay)


http://news.yahoo.com/china-u-eu-emissions-pledges-curb-warming-study-164918350--business.html

[Buster's Uncle]

U.N.'s Ban says no 'time for tinkering' on global warming action
Reuters
By Valerie Volcovici and Mitra Taj  1 hour ago



(L to R) Chile's President Michelle Bachelet, Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos, Peru's Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar Vidal, Peru's President Ollanta Humala and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pose for the media during the High Level Segment of the U.N. Climate Change Conference COP 20 in Lima, December 10, 2014. REUTERS/Enrique Castro-Mendivil



LIMA (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, expressing deep concern about slow action to combat climate change, told governments at U.N. talks in Lima on Tuesday there was no "time for tinkering" and urged a radical shift to greener economies.

Ban said there was still a chance of limiting global warming to an internationally agreed ceiling of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times to help avert floods, droughts, desertification and rising sea levels.

"But the window of opportunity is fast narrowing," he told delegates from about 190 nations at the Dec. 1-12 talks working on a deal, due in Paris in a year's time, to limit rising world greenhouse gas emissions.

"This is not a time for tinkering; it is a time for transformation," he said. Despite signs of progress, "I am deeply concerned that our collective action does not match our common responsibilities."

"We must act now," he said. He also urged wider involvement by the private sector.



United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gives a speech during the opening of the High Level Segment of the U.N. Climate Change Conference COP 20 in Lima, December 9, 2014. REUTERS/ Mariana Bazo


The U.N. talks got a lift on Tuesday when the U.N.'s new Green Climate Fund reached a U.N. target of $10 billion for a first capitalization, helped by a pledge of about $166 million by Australia and $64 million by Belgium.

"We've got above one of the psychologically important milestones," Hela Cheikhrouhou, head of the fund, told Reuters. Pledges by 24 nations now total $10.14 billion, she said.

She said the fund, which aims to help developing nations cut emissions and adapt to changes such as heat waves and more powerful storms, was likely to start disbursing funds for projects in 2016.

Ban urged developed nations to "meet and exceed" a wider goal set in 2009 of mobilizing at least $100 billion a year, in both public and private finance, by 2020 to help developing nations.

The Lima talks are trying to work out draft elements of a deal for Paris next year but face numerous fault lines about what should be included.



(L to R) Chile's President Michelle Bachelet, Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos, Peru's Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar Vidal, Peru's President Ollanta Humala, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), pose for the media during the High Level Segment of the U.N. Climate Change Conference COP 20 in Lima, December 10, 2014. The two-week long United Nations climate summit opened on December 1 in Lima, with experts and analysts from around the world gathering to discuss melting glaciers and extreme weather patterns. Ban Ki-moon, expressed deep concern about slow action to combat climate change, told governments at U.N. talks in Lima on Tuesday there was no "time for tinkering" and urged a radical shift to greener economies. REUTERS/Enrique Castro-Mendivil


U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is due to visit the talks on Thursday to add momentum.

Developing nations are pushing for a more ambitious outcome, with some calling for a target of cutting world greenhouse gas emissions to a net zero by 2050. OPEC nations, worried about loss of income from a shift to renewable energy, favor much vaguer long-term goals.

"We cannot have a climate agreement that condemns Mother Earth and humanity to death," in favor of enriching the few, Bolivia's left-wing President Evo Morales said, denouncing capitalism and consumption.

And Maria van der Hoeven, head of the International Energy Agency, said world leaders have a "golden opportunity" with plunging oil prices to put a price on carbon emissions since cheaper fuel makes the move less risky politically.

Separately, Peru's government denounced Greenpeace for laying out a banner promoting renewable energy near the famed Nazca lines, giant 1,500-year-old depictions of monkeys, hummingbirds and other creatures etched in the desert.

The government filed a criminal complaint against Greenpeace and asked a judge to ban activists who took part in the action from leaving the country.

(Writing by Alister Doyle; Editing by James Dalgleish and Cynthia Osterman)


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