Scientists believe that global sea levels could rise far more than predicted, due to accelerating melting in Greenland and Antarctica. The long-held view has been that the world’s seas would rise by a maximum of just under a metre by 2100. This new study, based on expert opinions, projects that the real level may be around double that figure. This could lead to the displacement of hundreds of millions of people, the authors say.
BBC 20th May 2019 read more »
Global sea levels could rise by more than two metres by the end of this century if emissions continue in a “business as usual” scenario, a United Nations body has warned. The international team of researchers said this would have “catastrophic” consequences for the whole world, forcing 187 million people off their land. Parts of London, Los Angeles, New York and Rio de Janiero could be submerged, leaving 1.79 million km2 of land lost globally, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. “The results were worse than we anticipated”, lead researcher Jonathan Bamber, from the University of Bristol told The Independent.
Independent 20th May 2019 read more »
A quarter of the UK’s land could be restored to nature, making a significant contribution towards cutting the nation’s carbon emissions to zero, under a new rewilding proposal. The plan, published by Rewilding Britain, calls for billions of pounds in farm subsidies to be redirected towards creating native woodlands and meadows and protecting peat bogs and salt marshes. The group says wildlife would benefit, farmers would not lose money and food production need not fall.
Guardian 21st May 2019 read more »
When a letter from BlackRock’s founder and chief executive, Larry Fink, landed in inboxes in January saying that the world’s biggest investor would no longer invest in companies that are not compliant with the Paris climate agreement, people took notice. The media jumped on the announcement, which appeared to herald a new era of finance facing up to the perils of the climate emergency. The letter was a hoax, carried out by the Yes Men, a group of pranksters with a history of embarrassing big companies. But while the message was fake, the concern behind it was not: environmental campaigners see BlackRock as a key obstacle to progress on meeting climate crisis goals.
Guardian 21st May 2019 read more »
Over the last three years I’ve been making a film called 2040. It’s a visual letter to my daughter showing her what the world could look like that year if we put into practice some of the best solutions that exist today. I call it an exercise in “fact-based dreaming”, as everything I show her in the future has to already exist today. In three years of research and interviews, what emerged were solutions that improve health, income inequality, security and communities with the bonus of drastically reducing emissions and regenerating ecosystems. These solutions include decentralised solar micro-grids in remote villages that allow the buying and selling of energy between homes and keep money in the local economy. They include regenerative agriculture practices which takes carbon from the atmosphere and returns it to the soil with the cascading benefits of water retention and nutrient-dense food. And also the turbocharged sequestering power of seaweed, which can grow up to half a metre a day while restoring marine habitats and providing communities with food, fibre, fertilisers and biofuels. But perhaps the most poignant solution I came across was the wide-reaching impact the education and empowerment of girls and women would have. It is clear we have everything we need right now to create a better 2040.
Guardian 20th May 2019 read more »
