tcktcktck — Copenhagen 7 Dec 09 | The World Is Ready

China formally signed up on Tuesday for the climate accord struck at the Copenhagen summit, the last major emerging economy to endorse a plan strongly favoured by the United States.

An official letter to the Bonn-based UN Climate Change Secretariat said that it could “proceed to include China in the list” of countries supporting the deal reached at the summit in December.

Earlier Tuesday India agreed to formally associate itself with the climate accord.

Source: Globe and Mail

Tags: Climate News | BASIC | china | climate change | global warming

Lower levels of oxygen in the Earth's oceans, particularly off the United States' Pacific Northwest coast, could be another sign of fundamental changes linked to global climate change, scientists say.

They warn that the oceans' complex undersea ecosystems and fragile food chains could be disrupted.

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

Tags: Climate News | acidification | carbon emissions | cliamte change | global warming | oceans

I know this might sound strange after so many people have expressed so much anger and disappointment at the failure of our political leaders to make the necessary decisions – and that is how I felt immediately after the conference - but this might be how the history books record it.

Tags: Campaign stories | climate change | copenhagen | global warming

Our friend Robert van Waarden has put together an inspiring montage of images that capture the energy, creativity, and dedication of the climate movement throughout 2009.

With the Copenhagen climate talks as the focus, 2009 was the year that our climate movement came into its own, bursting onto the scene and bringing with it a connected global sense of urgency on this the most significant threat to our planet. Millions of global citizens stood behind a common message that the world is ready.

Tags: Campaign stories | climate change | climate movement | global warming | inspiration

DeBoer, Hedegaard downplay expectations for a full legally binding treaty to be completed in Cancun

Outgoing UN Climate Chief Yvo DeBoer said this week that it is a “heavy lift” to have the content and form of a legal treaty completed in Cancun. At the EU meeting this week his sentiments were echoed by Connie Hedegaard, now the EU Environment Minister, who warned that “while it is desirable to achieve a legally binding deal as soon as possible, this was most likely not achievable before the ‘Cop 17".

Tags: Campaign stories | climate change | FAB | global warming | negotiations

It would be an enormous relief if the recent attacks on the science of global warming actually indicated that we do not face an unimaginable calamity requiring large-scale, preventive measures to protect human civilization as we know it.

Of course, we would still need to deal with the national security risks of our growing dependence on a global oil market dominated by dwindling reserves in the most unstable region of the world, and the economic risks of sending hundreds of billions of dollars a year overseas in return for that oil.

Source: New York Times

Tags: Climate News | Al Gore | climate change | global warming | science

The pace of global warming continues unabated, scientists said on Thursday, despite images of Europe crippled by a deep freeze and parts of the United States blasted by blizzards.

The bitter cold, with more intense winter weather forecast for March in parts of the United States, have led some to question if global warming has stalled.

Understanding the overall trend is crucial for estimating consumption of energy supplies, such as demand for winter heating oil in the U.S. northeast, and impacts on agricultural production.

Source: Reuters

Tags: Climate News | climate change | extreme | global warming | weather

Although sceptics have been gnawing away at the credibility of climate science for years, over the last five months they have made enormous leaps owing to the hacking of emails from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia and the discovery of a number of alleged mistakes in the benchmark reports of the IPCC.

Source: ABC

Tags: Climate News | climate change | deniers | global warming | IPCC | science

Millennia-old glaciers retreating, some shrinking at a pace of 16-20 metres per year, will bring about greater water shortages and potential disputes over dwindling resources in the region of Central Asia. The people of Tajikistan, who already feel the strains of climate change and food insecurity, will likely face increases in extreme weather like droughts and floods that could dangerously erode food security, livelihoods and even regional stability by 2050.

Tags: Campaign stories | climate change | global warming | poverty

Climate Finance building blocks  starting to emerge?

While the roadmap from Copenhagen is uncertain, climate finance has generated attention from various quarters.  It is still very early days, but there are some signs of potential building blocks emerging  on short and long-term finance in 2010.

Tags: Campaign stories | climate change | global warming