Adaptation means anticipating the adverse effects of climate change and taking appropriate action to prevent or minimise the damage they can cause, or taking advantage of opportunities that may arise. It has been shown that well planned, early adaptation action saves money and lives later. Examples of adaptation measures include: using scarce water resources more efficiently; adapting building codes to
Climate Services Serving a society in transition President Junker’s commitment of leading ‘the fight against global warming […] in line with the objective of limiting any temperature increase to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels’ calls for a transformation and deep decarbonisation of the whole economy. A ‘forward-looking climate policy’ implies the reduction of fossil fuel emissions
Borderless climate risks have the potential to severely hamper or completely roll-back progress made on building resilience through climate change adaptation. Can they be addressed in the follow-up of the Paris Agreement’s global goal on adaptation? This concern was the convening force behind a recent UNFCCC Side Event at COP23, titled A Global Adaptation Goal and borderless climate risks: Strengths
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In the early hours of Saturday morning, the official UN climate talks came to an end. Proceedings closed with a traditional Fijian song, Isa Lei, marking the end of the small island nation’s COP presidency. The negotiations did not close on a spectacular note, as was the case in 2015 when the Paris Agreement was signed, but that does not mean
Climate scientists have been looking again deep into the Earth’s history. Those past climate lessons are not reassuring. European scientists have just reached two chilling conclusions about today’s Earth by studying past climate lessons. One is that, just as the combustion of fossil fuels is dangerously warming the planet, so too the formation of those fuels turned down the planetary thermostat to
The year isn’t over yet, but we can already be sure that 2017 will be among the hottest years on record for the globe. While the global average surface temperature won’t match what we saw in 2016, it is now very likely that it will be one of the three warmest years on record, according to a statement issued by the World
While Houston is still reeling from the impacts of Hurricane Harvey, it appears that one of the city’s main vulnerabilities were its vast impervious surfaces. Concrete, asphalt and various types of surface materials prevent the absorption of water into the soil, and when gallons of rain pour down on urban areas, drainage systems get saturated. Ecosystems could make a substantial contribution to
The Maldives are at the front lines of climate change. The nation is comprised of 1,200 coral islands grouped in archipelagos and atolls, and only sits about 2.5 meters above sea level. According to former president Mohamed Nasheed the Maldives are the third most at risk country to sea level rise. Facing a grave future from climate change, Nasheed created plans
The Alps are famous for their pristine slopes, which facilitate many popular winter sports, such as skiing. In fact, one third of every Euro that a tourist spends in Austria, can be traced back to tourism. However, climate change threatens the vitality of the mountainous terrain and the snow conditions that allow the snow sports to thrive. Yet, climate change