Time for Climate Action

Following on from the Paris agreement's (2015) aspiration to limit warming to 1.5 degrees, the IPCC in 2018 launched a special report into the impacts this warming will have and what the carbon budgets would be. The urgency this called for has received widespread attention, as highlighted in our IPCC 1.5 topic. Following on from this, we have seen the school strikes reaching 1.4 million participants globally, Sir David Attenborough providing a powerful, authentic voice and Extinction Rebellion gaining global attention in their aims to turn the tide on our sixth mass extinction, and avert runaway climate change via non-violent communication and direct action.

The momentum is building, and the paradigm is shifting. Talking of climate change as a potential extinction event for humans is very much on the table, not just from academics but from influential public figures such as David Attenborough. People are now understanding their potential, not only to harm nature but also to protect it.

Now is the time to join millions of others and act on climate.

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Global CLIMATE CRISIS

Hot Topics

IPCC climate report

The first part of the sixth assessment report of the IPCC was published on August 9, 2021. It deals with the latest scientific findings. In it you can read what should now be clear to everyone: Man-made climate change is advancing and accelerating. The consequences such as droughts, heat waves that trigger forest fires or floods, as most recently in Germany, will be even more devastating in the future - if we do not act as quickly as possible.

IPCC climate report

COP26 - Glasgow 2021

As the consequences of climate change continue to worsen, anticipation is building for the 26th UN Climate Summit, to be held from 1-12 November in the UK. The event is one of the most important events on climate issues, bringing together many of the world's leaders to discuss and agree plans to tackle the climate crisis. This year it will coincide with the deadline for countries to submit their plans to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement signed at COP21 in 2015.

COP26 - Glasgow 2021

Fridays for Future

After sitting in front of the Swedish parliament for 3 weeks protesting her country's inaction towards the climate crisis, Greta Thunberg decided to strike every Friday. The #FridaysForFuture movement spread, mobilising children and adults worldwide to protest locally every Friday noon. With reports of key demonstrations having 1.4 million people marching globally.

Fridays for Future

US-Canada "Heat Dome"

An unusual phenomenon, known as a "heat dome", which traps heat in one area, is currently affecting the north-western United States and southwestern Canada, with temperatures reaching up to 49.6C (121F). The intense heat has caused more than 180 wildfires, the melting of power lines and the breaking of roads. Such extreme weather is unusual for the region, so many homes have no air conditioning, which has unfortunately led to an increase in deaths related to the severe heat.  And it has caused many others to abandon their homes and seek shelter in cooling centres.

US-Canada "Heat Dome"

2021 Floods

Climate scientists have long warned that global warming would cause extreme flooding, and we are already seeing it. In China's Henan province, in just 3 days the annual rainfall level has been exceeded, causing several deaths, thousands of people evacuated and infrastructure destroyed. In Germany and Belgium, heavy rains dropped 15 cm of rain in 24 hours, at least 196 people have died and many more are missing. The scale of the destruction exceeds even the wildest forecasts, so action is urgently needed.

2021 Floods

2021-2030 UN Renewal Decade

The UN declared a bold initiative to restore the world's ecosystems over a ten-year period. The UN says that humans are using 1.6 times the resources the planet can sustainably provide, and that this must urgently change.  This initiative aims to help achieve the climate targets of the Paris Agreement, the Sustainable Development Goals, and to keep global warming below 2°C. And, above all, it aims to achieve a balanced relationship between humanity and ecosystems. It is a nature-based solution, which requires individual to global efforts, because to really make a difference, restoration must happen on a large scale.

2021-2030 UN Renewal Decade

CO2 levels in atmosphere

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's annual measurement, in 2021 the amount of CO2 has reached its highest level in more than four million years, approaching a Pliocene-like level. Despite last year's decline due to pandemic shutdowns, greenhouse gases are increasing as economies and people resume their "pre-pandemic routines".As we already know, CO2 levels will continue to rise, due to human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels, unless we take urgent action.

CO2 levels in atmosphere

Extinction Rebellion (XR)

Although they faced much opposition, including a government ban on protest, for two consecutive weeks' activists took to the streets with demonstrations of civil disobedience in order to urge the government to take action against climate collapse, loss of biodiversity and the risk of social and ecological collapse. Find here what's next for this international rebellious movement. 

Extinction Rebellion (XR)

Climate Change Deniers

Climate change denial or skepticism involves denying and dismissing the scientific knowledge on climate change. The deniers dismiss the fact that climate change is caused by humans and deny its impacts on human society and nature.

Climate Change Deniers

Must read

Leaked IPCC Climate Report:

'Reads Like a 4,000-Page Indictment' of Humanity's Failure.

Must watch

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Plastics

How are they harming the planet&why recycling isn’t the solution you think it is.

Suggested Blog

InsideClimate News

Pulitzer Prize

Hero of the Month

David Attenborough

Sir David Attenborough is the people's voice in the UNFCC and has also briefed the British government. He mentioned that government "can not be radical enough" on climate action and said that he feels society is going through a new transition on its views of morality, as it did with slavery, this time on climate change. That the question for the government, is how do they take the electorate with them? He highlights that every time we breathe we are dependant on nature and that never before have we been so powerful that we can crush nature without even realising it.

Featured Organisation of the Month

The Climate Reality Project

The non-profit organization was formed in 2006 by the American politician and environmentalist Al Gore. The Climate Reality Project is specialized on education on climate change, campaigns against climate change denial and building a global climate protection movement. In recent years it has attracted attention through numerous campaigns such as the I AM PRO SNOW campaign to draw attention to snow as a basis for leisure and work or the 24 Hours of Reality campaign with a focus on a specific region of the world.

Featured Online Resource of the Month

Real Climate

The online blog is specialized on texts, discussions and comments about climate science. The contributions range between Carbon cycle, Geoengineering, Hurricanes or Reports on climate skeptics. The authors are working climate scientists, so many of the texts are very specific but also very informative and fact-based. Detailed data sources can also be found on the blog, for example on the current Antarctic weather situation.