Global Warming

Warming Urgency

A United Nations official warned that governments are not on track to meet a goal of the 2015 Paris agreement to cap global warming below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) before the end of this century.

Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, said governments as well as the private sector now need to act swiftly to avert the “catastrophic effects” of climate change.

Espinosa said of the recent deadly heat and resulting firestorms around the Northern Hemisphere, “It really does make the evidence clear that climate change is having an impact on the daily lives of people.”

Australia Signs Global Warming Declaration

Climate change is the single greatest security threat to the Pacific, and all countries must meet their commitments under the Paris climate agreement, the 18 countries of the Pacific Islands Forum said on Wednesday.

The first assertion of the strongly worded Boe Declaration says all Pacific nations, including Australia, “reaffirm that climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific, and our commitment to progress the implementation of the Paris agreement.

“Leaders reaffirmed the importance of immediate urgent action to combat climate change and … called on countries, particularly large emitters, to fully implement their … mitigation targets, including through the development and transfer of renewable energy, in line with committed timeframes.”

Leaders of the Forum Islands countries also called for the US to return to the Paris agreement and the commitments it made under President Barack Obama.

Artificial Intelligence is greater concern than climate change or terrorism

Artificial Intelligence is a greater concern than antibiotic resistance, climate change or terrorism for the future of Britain, the incoming president of the British Science Association has warned.

Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of physics and public engagement at the University of Surrey, said the unprecedented technological progress in AI was ‘happening too fast’ without proper scrutiny or regulation.

Prof Al-Khalili warned that the full threat to jobs and security had not been properly assessed and urged the government to urgently regulate.