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Current Environmental Issues and News
Air
Climate Change
Greenhouse Gases Have Already
Reached Dangerous Tipping Point
The total "long-term" carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has already reached 455 parts per million. (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report) This level is considered a tipping point.
"The amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is already above the threshold that can potentially cause dangerous climate change. We are already at risk...It's not next year or next decade, it's now." (Tim Flannery, climate change expert) (1), (2).
Scientist Chris Field from the IPCC says the current trajectory of climate change is now much worse than the IPCC had originally projected in part due to China and India's increasing reliance on coal power.
The research shows carbon emissions have grown sharply since 2000, despite growing concerns about climate change. During the 1990s, carbon emissions grew by less than 1% per year. Since 2000, emissions have grown at a rate of 3.5% per year. No part of the world had a decline in emissions from 2000 to 2008.
Earlier this month, Field told the American Association for the Advancement of Science:
"We are basically looking now at a future climate beyond anything we've considered seriously in climate model situations." (1)
Report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
Climate disasters are on the rise. Around 70 percent of disasters are now climate related – up from around 50 percent from two decades ago.
These disasters take a heavier human toll and come with a higher price tag. In the last decade, 2.4 billion people were affected by climate related disasters, compared to 1.7 billion in the previous decade. The cost of responding to disasters has risen tenfold between 1992 and 2008.
Destructive sudden heavy rains, intense tropical storms, repeated flooding and droughts are likely to increase, as will the vulnerability of local communities in the absence of strong concerted action.
(1) (learn more at OCHA)
Unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth. (350.org)
- Scientific Consensus on Global Warming and Certainty vs. Uncertainty about Climate Change
- Added threat of reaching peak oil sooner than expected: US military warns oil output may dip causing massive shortages by 2015
- Climate Change FAQ: from National Resources Defense Council and Union of Concerned Scientists
- Impacts of Climate Change Coming Faster and Sooner
- Global Warming: A Timeline
- In-Depth Video Lectures on Climate Change: World Watch Institute's 2009 State of the World Symposium Into a Warming World
- Livestock's Role in Climate Change (PDF) (Responsible for 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions)
- IPCC Head, Dr Rajendra Pachauri's Slideshow and Lecture titled "Global Warning! The Impact of Meat Production and Consumption on Climate Change"
- Problems with proposed cap & trade solution:
- Permafrost Methane Time Bomb, Carbon Dioxide, Methane Rise Sharply in 2007 and Methane Seeps from Arctic Sea Bed
- Acidified Ocean Water and CO2 Emissions Could Violate EPA Ocean Quality Standards within Decades
- Global Warming Could Kill Coral Reefs by 2050 (U.S. Coral Reefs in Severe Decline)
- Soil Releasing more Carbon Dioxide
- Experts cite lower threshold for warming crisis
- Arctic Ice Thinning, Glacier Melt Accelerating and Antarctic Glaciers Melting Faster Than Thought
- Aerosols Cloud the Climate Picture
- Canadian Oil Sand Extraction Releases Huge Amounts of Greenhouse Gases (the sands cover an area the size of Florida and hold proven oil reserves second only to Saudi Arabia) (see satellite view)
- Animals endangered by climate change: overall threat to all species, polar bear, narwhals
- Current Climate Change Articles by the Environmental News Network
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report Summaries:
Air Pollution
- Air Pollution
- Acid Rain
- Current Air Quality Information (U.S. and Canada)
- Top 100 U.S. Air Polluters
Ozone Depletion
Water
Fresh Water Shortages and Water Pollution
Ocean and Coastal Threats
- Major Threats to the Worlds Oceans (Including Shrinking Fish Population)
- Alarming Increase in Ocean Dead-Zones
- The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
- The Great Atlantic Garbage Patch
Shrinking Wetlands
Land
Genetic Engineering
Forest Destruction/Deforestation
- How much forest is there on the planet and at what rate is it disappearing?
- Causes of Rainforest Destruction
Food Supply Monopoly
Desertification
Air, Water & Land
Toxic Chemicals
Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power
Impact on Humans
World Hunger - Growing Food Crisis
Hormone/Endocrine Disruptors
Impact on Animals
Endangered Species and Biodiversity Loss
- The threats & problems affecting species and their survival
- Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions
- World's biodiversity 'crisis' needs action, says UN
Animal Cruelty
Overall
State of the World
- World Scientists' Warning to Humanity
- United Nations Global Environment Outlook Reports
- Millenium Ecosystem Assessment - Living Beyond Our Means
World Population Issues
Current Environmental News
- New York Times: Environment
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- Grist
- Natural Resources Defense Council Environmental News
- NPR's Environmental News
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