Climate Change

Climate Change

Copenhagen is hosting the final gathering of world leaders for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The struggle to agree to global, effective, sustainable and practical solutions to stop, slow the pace or reverse climate change due to global warming and save Planet Earth, from an untimely demise (due to our self indulgent, unseeing, selective hearing lifestyles) continues unabated - despite national, economics and political differences.

The Greenhouse Effect

The effect of global warming (also called the greenhouse effect), is sapping the life out of our planet.

Researchers have linked the greenhouse effect to a range and concentration of different gases in the earth’s atmosphere.

While water vapour is reported to be the most significant contribution to the greenhouse effect, it is followed by carbon dioxide (CO2) emission in the atmosphere.

The increasing atmospheric greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide in particular, and the adverse consequences for the global climate are raising concerns.

The atmospheric content of these gases in the environment has risen rapidly over the latest 250 years, and especially in the last 50 years.

The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is currently about 385 parts per million (ppm). Prior to the Industrial revolution, the concentration of carbon dioxide was an estimated 280 ppm.

Analyses of air contained in ice from the Antarctic ice cap implies that current atmospheric carbon dioxide is at its highest level (in comparison to the previous 650,000 years).

The implication is that the greenhouse effect is becoming stronger - consequently the earth is becoming warmer. Despite the raw visual evidence of climate change (extinction of plants and animals, more frequent extreme weather), some people continue to question the causal link and dispute the degree of change in the earth's temperature.

The 2007 assessment, the most current assessment available from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), concluded that the earth’s average temperature rose by 0.74 degrees between 1906 to 2005.

The earth temperature rise is reported to be stronger over land areas than over the sea, hence it is strongest in the northern hemisphere. Concurrently the occurrences of heat waves and violent downpours have also increased, ocean levels have risen, and ice at the world’s poles and on its mountains are melting.

Scientific researchers maintain that these events and conditions are directly linked to the Earth's greenhouse effect and global warming.



The Thames Barrier

The Thames Barrier was designed to protect London from flooding, up to the year 2070. The estimated defence level, made in 1970, included long term changes in sea and land level as understood around 1970. After 2070 the protection afforded by The Thames Barrier was expected to decrease, but remain within acceptable safety limits. Since then, sea level rise due to global warming has been identified. Currently, the Thames Barrier is expected to be able to cope with projected sea level rises until around 2060–2070. In 2005, a replacement for The Thames Barrier was publicly discussed and is currently being investigated, estimated cost is astronomical.

In its most recent report, the IPCC's assessment report concluded that the average temperature will continue to rise. However, the assessment implies that the extent and the duration of this rise, and the severity of its consequences will depend on how quickly and how effectively greenhouse gases emissions can be restricted and reduced.

Global Impact of Increase in the Earth's temperature

The Met Office (the UK's national weather service) have released a map of the expected global catastrophe if an agreement is not reached in Copenhagen to ensure that the earth temperature increases by no more than 2 degree Celsius by the end of the century.

Global catastrophe if world leaders cannot agree a solution to global warming in Copenhagen include:

• rise in sea level
,

• crop failure


• food shortage


• shortage of clean drinking water

Impact of a global temperature rise of 4 degree Celsius (7 degree Fahrenheit).

The Head of Climate Change Advice at the Met Office (UK's national weather service), Vicky Pope concluded that, "If emissions continue at the current rate the global average temperature are likely to rise by 4 degrees Celsius by the end of this century or even substantially earlier. The science tells us that this will have severe and widespread impacts in all parts of the world, so we need to take action now to reduce emissions to avoid water and food shortages in the future."

Director of the Science Museum and Professor of Climate Science at University College London, Professor Chris Rapley CBE, added "The map provides graphic evidence of the dramatic transformation of our world that a 4 degree (Celsius) global temperature rise would trigger. It leaves no doubt of the paramount importance of a successful outcome of the Copenhagen negotiations."

Looking for solutions

The Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) (chaired by Ed Millibank, UK Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change) highlighted "solutions", such as:

• Carbon sequestration - a geoengineering technique for long-term storage of carbon dioxide (and other forms of carbon).


• Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

However, USA Secretary of Energy, Dr Stephen Chu pointed out that these "solutions" would only account for 20 - 25 per cent of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Additionally the technologies are untested, need to be disseminated and their capacities and capabilities monitored and measured in situ. The New York City Parks Department considers London Plane Tree a good contender for carbon capture and storage in their city.

The South Africa Minister of Energy, Elizabeth Dipuo Peters concluded that while evolving African States may not be able to contribute financially towards these new technologies, their focus remains on:

• promoting efficient use of energy


• promoting renewable energy sources

Bringing together appropriate representatives of the "developed", "developing" and evolving nations for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a good way forward... it brings a global, economically and environmentally sustainable and viable agreement to the interpreted analyses, ongoing causes and possible solutions to Climate Change that much closer to becoming a reality.




While the Kyoto agreement was an important first stage implementation of workable solutions in decreasing the rate of greenhouse gas emissions and the adverse effect of climate change...more needs to be done and is being demanded by those whose homes and livelihood are in immediate danger of been swallowed by the rising sea level.

It is to be hoped that common sense will prevail and override political differences at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) in Copenhagen, 7th - 18th December 2009.

Update

Climate Change - Discussion and Negotiation begins
With thousands of protesters marching towards the conference hall in Copenhagen, representatives from the "Industrial Countries" complain: Climate Change draft should have made stronger demands on major developing countries like China and India





Copyright © Abimbola Akanwo, 2009. Photograph by Abimbola Akanwo 2009. All rights reserved.