Climate debate heating up
The problem with scientists is that they never have good news!!! Well, sure enough, the current information coming out from a range of climate change think tanks reads like a Sci-Fi film script. Forget the current distractions of 60% losses on Wall Street, the new debate is: Who will survive this century?
The rise in sea levels and possibility of tipping point climate change leading to mass migrations appears to be gaining consensus. It is also a concern that latest reports from the New Scientist indicates that many leading researchers are refusing to give public statements because they are scary.
According to James Lovelock, who developed the “Gaia” theory, which describes the Earth as a self-regulating entity, by the end of this century, the only places we will be guaranteed enough water to live will be in the high latitudes. “Everything in that region will be growing like mad. That’s where all the life will be. The rest of the world will be largely desert with a few oases.”
So if only a fraction of the planet will be habitable, how will our vast population survive? Lovelock, who is a spritely 90 years old, is less than optimistic. “Humans are in a pretty difficult position and I don’t think they are clever enough to handle what’s ahead. I think they’ll survive as a species all right, but the cull during this century is going to be huge. The number remaining at the end of the century will probably be a billion or less.”
The evidence to date shows that average global temperature has risen 0.8°C in the past 120 years. Ice cover on Mt. Kilimanjaro decreased by 81% between 1912 and 2000. Sea level is rising at an average of about 3.5 mm/year, as compared with 0.5-1.5 mm/year between 1910 and 1990.
In a lead-up to December 2009’s UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the International Scientific Conference on Climate Change is meeting in Copenhagen this week to discuss risks from climate change, including sea level rise, changes in ocean circulation, and carbon sink vulnerability. (Meanwhile, skeptics of the reality of climate change and its impact on the environment also met this week in New York to ask the question: “Global Warming: Was It Ever Really A Crisis?”
While skeptics still abound, the evidence piles up, and it’s worse than we thought: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had made a conservative prediction that sea levels will rise between 18 and 59 cm this century. New studies noted in the UNEP’s 2009 Year Book indicate that sea levels could rise between 0.8 and 1.5 meters; one study suggested up to 2 meters. Scientists at this week’s Copenhagen conference consented, stating that sea levels are rising twice as fast as we thought.
This change in view, according to The Economist, is only because we’ve started paying attention. Since the IPCC made predictions on sea level changes in 2007, we started studying them and understanding polar ice caps and other climate change factors better. (Click here for Economist article.) Such sea level rises have incredible implications for already vulnerable populations with which CRS works.
The UN, under its UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is working on a global plan to address climate change post-2012. As an agency, CRS is also mobilizing to better respond to climate change, both as an agency and in our programming. A new climate change strategy document is available on the Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship Sharepoint site. “Climate Change and Global Solidarity” outlines the way CRS is thinking about climate change and how we can change our programming to respond.
Publications library
New publications
- Strategies for Sustainable Coffee
Coffee production is important to both the economies and ecologies of the regions in which it is produced. This poster looks at how CRS is providing support for coffee-based livelihoods to
Increasing Smallholder Access to Finance
This poster looks at how increasing smallholder access to finance through saving and lending can lead to increased investment in agriculture.
Increasing Market Access for Smallhold…
CRS is helping farmers in the Phillipines organize into product clusters to supply quality produce at the right price and time. Download this poster to learn more about this approach.
A Holistic Livelihoods-based Approach …
CRS uses the Integral Human Development conceptual framework to help design programs in the field. The framework and how it works is presented in this poster.
Baby-Friendly Farms
This poster explains how CRS is helping women practice exclusive breastfeeding and improve their nutrition through baby-friendly farms to reduce infant morbidity and mortality in Sierra Leone.