climate

The Bizarre Weather of 2014 Explained Using GIFs

- Adam Clare

BuzzFeed, of all places, as a great and simple way that explains why the weather of 2014 has been so extreme. In North America it has been more cold than the new “normal,” the UK has been hit hard by flooding, and in the South Pacific there has been above average rainfall. Crazy people think this is evidence that global warming (AKA climate change) isn’t happening. Those people clearly don’t live in reality. This awful weather is a result of something that’s been predicted for quite some time: the loss of power in the jet stream.

Why is this good news? Well, clearly this anthropogenic climate change isn’t good – but helping people understand what is going on and why is good news. Just look at these cute this climate gifs:

Thanks Buzzfeed!

The jet stream is a basically a long tube of fast-moving air, flowing west to east around the globe, several miles up in the atmosphere. There’s actually two parts of the jet stream that matter here – the Asia-Pacific jet stream (where it leaves Asia over Japan) and the North Atlantic jet stream, which runs up from the Americas in the general direction of Europe. Both have a huge influence over our weather – but when it’s operating normally, it generally means we get fairly standard winters.

See the rest at BuzzFeed.

Cities Are The Key For Adjusting To Changing Climate

- Adam Clare

Readers of this site have seen lots of evidence that in the 21st century the best place one can live for a small carbon footprint is in urban areas. Things like increased infrastructure costs and higher costs of living associated with automobile use in rural & suburban places are obvious reasons why denser areas are better.

Now we can add even more reasons to live an urban life thanks to research from the IPCC and WWF.

The latest assessment by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates a global carbon budget, or the estimated amount of carbon available to burn if the world is to limit runaway climate change. We also know that, if action is not taken soon, all the allowable emissions would be locked in by energy infrastructure existing within five years from now. Time is short.

The good news is that we know where to take action to prevent such lock-in and build a resilient energy future. Most of today’s emissions come from cities, and within that, the vast majority from three sources: the energy used to create electricity, to heat and cool buildings, and for transportation. From the Earth Hour City Challenge, a year-long programme launched by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) to identify and promote cities that are leading climate action, it is clear that cities, and their mayors worldwide, are already demonstrating innovative solutions to reduce dependence on fossil fuels in each of these sectors.

Read more.

Rest of World to Canada: Stop Risking The Future

- Adam Clare

COP 19 ends this week and there is at least one clear message coming from the meeting: Canada is risking the wellbeing of future generations. While most countries agree that climate change needs to be dealt with and carbon output needs to be curtailed, Canada is refusing to budge on its pro-tar sands stance while keeping an ineffiecent resource-based economy running.

Hopefully Canadians will be able to notice the rest of the world is concerned about more than just Rob “Crack Mayor” Ford. Other countries are clearly thinking into the future and let’s hope Canada can do the same.

Good on the forward-thinking participants of COP 19!

“How can Canadians not see that their grandchildren will share the world with nine billion other people (by 2050)? And I have no certainty at all that it will be a livable world.”
…
“We’re not, I think, a stupid race. I know that political timescales can be very short. But I believe that these next two years – 2014, we have to change course, and 2015, when we need sustainable development goals and a robust, fair climate agreement – we can still do it.

“We need a forward-looking leadership, and that won’t come from Canadian politicians unless it comes from the Canadian people.”

Read more at the CBC.

Help Santa Keep His Home This Christmas

- Adam Clare

ice melt
The David Suzuki Foundation has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the lack of ice coverage at the North Pole. Where Will Santa Live? is a fun spin on a serious issue and looks like a good way to talk about ice coverage while keeping the conversation entertaining.

“We’re asking Canadians to do something novel and give a gift to Santa this holiday season,” says David Suzuki. “We have to help Santa, the elves and the reindeer evacuate the North Pole and find a suitable temporary workshop in Canada.”

Why give?

We hope you'll forgive us for having some fun with a beloved holiday figure. But climate change is no laughing matter.

Global warming is a serious problem, and poses a very real risk to all the winter traditions and experiences we as Canadians hold dear.

By supporting our “Where Will Santa Live?” campaign, you will be helping us develop a clean, renewable energy plan for Canada, affect climate policy decisions at a national and provincial level, and provide more resources to Canadians on how to go carbon neutral at home and at work, among many other initiatives.

Learn more about our work to turn back climate change and how you can take action to be part of the solution.

Follow the Durban Climate Conference

- Adam Clare

OneClimate has a good collection of live coverage from the Durban Climate Conference, also known as COP17. The conference started a few days ago and runs until the 9th of December.

You can follow it here:

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