At yesterday’s COP21 science briefing, University of Reading climate scientist Ed Hawkins displayed a chilling (pun intended) colour-coded world map. Nation by nation, it showed which countries are already experiencing obvious effects of climate change. Hawkins' map isn’t published yet, so I can’t reproduce it here — but read on to find out who’s feeling …
Category: COP 21
Climate Change Conference, Paris
COP21 Day 2: Infrequently Asked Questions
If we thought Day 1 of COP21 was jam-packed, Day 2 has been even more so. Everything is going on at the same time: this afternoon our delegation was spread out across events on carbon pricing, indigenous land tenure in forest conservation schemes, faith groups combatting climate change, and food security.
All Fracked Up
by Dr. Ricky Rood The Conference of the Parties - 21, COP21, is upon us, and our University of Michigan Delegation first-week flight of students is in Paris. They are in the frenzy of lots of people with lots of energy and events and ideas. I JUST heard on the radio, KOA in Denver, that …
What’s the Big Deal? : Stakeholder hopes for COP21
USA[1] Mitigation: reduction in emissions of major emitters Transparency: UN oversight to be sure countries fulfill pledges Monetary assistance for less-developed countries China[2] Negotiators will do a better job reaching a deal than heads of state (learned from Copenhagen 2009) Would limit warming to 2C or less Encouraging mobilization of $100 billion from developed countries to help less-developed …
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COP21 follow-along: Dec 1
This morning I attended “Tipping Points and Instability in Antarctica”. It was a great event and right up my alley as a glaciologist. I learned two logistical things you all might like to know: 1. All webcasts are archived and can be watched on-demand (this means you can go back and watch things that happened …
Paris Climate Talks Begin; Five Reasons Why They Are So Important
by Bob Henson A momentous two weeks of United Nations meetings that will shape the future of Earth’s climate have begun. The 21st annual UN Conference on Climate Change (also known as the Conference of Parties, or COP21) will unfold at Le Bourget, France, about six miles northeast of downtown Paris. COP21 is bringing together …
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Climate COPs
by Dr. Ricky Rood Well, COP21 is upon us, and of course, I have made it through about half of what I intended to make it through. My original plan was to go through all the climate-change papers I could find with Exxon authors, then write a little about technology, then a list of what …
How fast can we transition to a low-carbon energy system?
Starting later this month, the world’s nations will convene in traumatized Paris to hammer out commitments to slow down global climate change. Any long-term solution will require “decarbonizing” the world energy economy – that is, shifting to power sources that use little or no fossil fuel. How fast can this happen, and what could we …
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