Climate Change

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One of the major issues being considered here at COP17 is adaptation.

Last week’s Northeast snowstorm and extended power outages have focused renewed attention on extreme weather. But was this event related to climate change? Most press coverage says no, and as a result the press are well on their way to getting the story wrong. Read the full post

Climate skeptics have denounced studies of temperature rise because of alleged biases in data sets. So in an effort to get to the bottom of these critiques, a group of scientists launched the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature study, using different methods with skeptics’ arguments in mind. Its findings are in, and they confirm that not only is the Earth’s land temperature warming, but the results mimic the very results of previous assessments that the skeptics had tossed aside.

“Bangladesh offers a good example of a country that has moved from disaster relief to disaster preparedness with the development of pioneering early warning systems,” said Kelly Levin, senior associate at the World Resources Institute and research director for the report “Decision Making in a Changing Climate”. Read the full story

Download the report "Decision Making in a Changing Climate" by Kelly Levin

Catalina Garzon of Pacific Institute presented findings from the group’s report on the effects of sea-level rise on the California coast. She used a map of projected flooding to show that people of color living in Oakland’s flatlands are disproportionately vulnerable to flooding from sea-level rise. Garzon also reported on adaptation strategies implemented in other communities, including emergency warning systems, repurposing of community centers for emergency use and retrofitting. ...

Derek Lemoine, an assistant professor of economics, found that simultaneously reducing emissions, investing in low- and zero-carbon research and development, and developing technologies to remove emitted carbon dioxide—a greenhouse gas—from the atmosphere is the most cost-effective approach to limiting global warming to a 2-degree Celsius increase (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Read the full story