A new report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warns that we are well on our way to losing 25% or our plant and animal species and have already lost 47% of ecosystems.
Tag: Climate change
Highest air pollution in Bangladesh, China, India, and Pakistan in 2018
AirVisual and Greenpeace have jointly published the World Air Quality Report for 2018, ranking over 3000 cities based on their pollution levels. Out of the total 64% exceeded the WHO’s annual
exposure guideline for fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5. In the Middle-East and Africa all (100%) of the measured cities exceeded the WHO guideline. In South Asia and South East Asia this was 99% and 95% respectively, while 89% of cities in East Asia also exceeded the target.
The top 50 cities with the highest average PM2.5 levels during 2018, were from China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. At a country level, weighted by population, “Bangladesh is the most polluted country on average, closely followed by Pakistan and India, with Middle Eastern countries, Afghanistan and Mongolia also within the top 10”.
PM2.5 is particulate matter measuring up to 2.5 microns in size. It has the most health impact of all commonly measured air pollutants, has a range of chemical makeups and a variety of sources, such as vehicle engines, industry, wood and coal burning. Because of its small size it can penetrate deep into the respiratory system as well as the entire body.
“Air pollution steals our livelihoods and our futures,” Yeb Sano, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said in a statement. “In addition to human lives lost, there’s an estimated global cost of 225 billion dollars in lost labour, and trillions in medical costs,” he added.
Photo credit: AirVisual
Pollution in the UK
While we have been seeing early onset of spring and and enjoying an unusually warm February, there are some worrying issues at hand too.
On Tuesday, UK residents were warned to restrict outdoor activities because of an increase in pollution in many areas in the country. Our warm weather is due to the air-mass from North Africa, which has also brought Saharan dust. This combined with vehicular and industrial emissions, as well as particles from Europe have all contributed to the increase in countrywide pollution levels.
The Environmental Department, Met Office and the National Weather Service have all warned that the levels will be highest in North England, including in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. Meanwhile, air quality in London was close to that of New Delhi, according to the app AirVisual prompting the Mayor’s office to issue alerts. All of these warnings have continued into Wednesday, 27th February, 2019 and is expected to last until Thursday. According to a study by the Royal College of Physicians, approximately 40,000 premature deaths are linked to air pollution.
The increase in pollution levels across the country just goes on to show the failure to bring pollution levels down. While the government has asked 36 of the top polluted cities to submit pollution curbing plans, many have missed the deadlines to do so. Since, 2010, UK’s pollution levels have been high due to nitrogen oxide pollution from diesel vehicles. Bringing it down requires instituting a pollution tax or bringing down the number of diesel vehicles. Effort to do either of these have been very slow due to impacts on local businesses and communities. The government has earmarked an implementation fund of £275m and a £220m clean air fund to minimise local impacts. However, extensive and concrete steps need to be taken immediately to bring down pollution levels, or the country is like to see even more pollution linked deaths and impacts on health.
Photocredit: UK Air - DEFRA
Climate Change claims its first victim: The Bramble Cay melomys is now extinct
The Bramble Cay melomys was a rodent that lived solely on a tiny sand island in the Torres Strait, near the coast of Papua New Guinea. It has not been seen since 2009 and in 2016 it was described as the first mammalian extinction caused by climate change. Now the Australian government has officially confirmed its eradication. A report by the Australian government has highlighted sea level rise on multiple occasions during the last decade, causing habitat loss and individual mortality, as the reason for the rodent’s extinction.
While this is termed as the first recorded mammalian casualty of human induced climate change, it must also be kept in mind that according to IUCN, Australia has the world’s highest rates of animal extinction.
Liverpool City Region Year of Environment 2019
In January 2019, the Liverpool City Region declared 2019 as the official Year of the Environment, the City Region’s contribution to the national Year of Green Action.
This is a cross-agency programme and entails a year of activities, which will engage communities with nature, reducing waste and improving health and well-being. The idea is to involve more and more people in environmental and conservation projects. Activities will be focused around themes such as air quality, climate change and resilience, green spaces, habitats & biodiversity, health and well-being, sustainable energy, waste reduction, water quality and conservation, and connecting with nature.
In order to increase engagement and to promote events #YOE2019LCR and #iwillnature are being used and communities can follow the Liverpool City Region on twitter to keep abreast of the activities.
Climate Change — 1.5 C is the least we need to do and it may not be enough
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued its Special Report on the impacts of global warming in South Korea, October 10, 2018. The Panel was requested to publish the Special Report by the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC in its 21st session during which the Paris Agreement was signed (2015).
Is climate change leading us to category 6?
It is quite likely that climate change is having an impact on the frequency and intensity of hurricanes and typhoons. In the last couple of weeks, the world has seen two major storms: Hurricane Florence, which hit the east coast of the US and Typhoon Mangkhut that has devastated the Philippines and parts of China.
It is possible that a changing climate can be slowing down storms by affecting (blocking) areas of high pressure in the atmosphere. It also results in more water vapour being created over warming seas. This vapour, therefore, has more time to rise up and becoming part of the storm and then falling as more intense rainfall. Rising sea levels have meant an increase in storm surges. Both intense rains and storm surges were observed during Hurricane Florence.
Typhoon Mangkhut was the strongest so far in the Philippines, which gets hit by about 20 typhoons and storms a year. It had sustained winds of 209 km/h and brought flooding rains and mudslides, resulting in destruction and loss of lives. Again, there is a high possibility that a warmer atmosphere holding more moisture made its impacts more intense.
And the latest is Storm Ali, hitting the UK on September 19, 2018, with expected 80 mph winds. It arrives after Storm Helene hit Wales on Tuesday. Weather warnings are in place and there is already news of trees being brought down and a caravan blown away. Storm Ali is also supposed to bring widespread and persistent rain on Thursday across much of Scotland, Ireland and Northwest England.
Intense hurricanes and typhoons have already made their presence felt in the past several years. And new research indicates that a warming climate will further intensify storms bringing excessive rainfall and storm surges. A model developed at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory generated findings that lend credence to this hypothesis. Projections show that “for the period 2016 – 2035 there were more hurricanes in general and 11% more hurricanes of the Category 3, 4 and 5 classes; by the end of the century, there were 20 percent more of the worst storms“.
Furthermore, the research indicates that storms of super extreme intensity, (with maximum sustained winds above 190 mph), are also more common. In a simulation of the 20th century, only 9 such storms were found, however, 32 were found for the period 2016-2035 and 72 for the period from 2081-2100.
Not everyone agrees but it is definitely something to think about.
Image via The Weather Channel
Climate change impacts: Floods in Japan
(Picture Kyodo News/ AP via BBC)
The impacts of climate change are now manifesting on a regular basis. Recently, severe flooding in Japan wreaked devastation across Hiroshima and has killed almost 200 people, with 1.5 million people being displaced. And this, in a country that has some of the best flood defenses in the world.
According to the authorities in Japan, this can be classified as some of the worst weather that Japan has seen in many decades. And now, intense heat and water shortages are only exacerbating the situation. There is danger of disease and dehydration taking their toll on already beleaguered communities.
It is quite clear that extreme weather events taking place across the globe, whether they are increasing droughts in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, floods in Japan and unprecedented higher temperatures in the UK are all down to the adverse impacts of a changing climate.
The Paris Agreement may have committed countries to curtail green house gas emissions, however, the current levels of GHG emissions could already have led us to a devastating path.
Where Did The Water Go?
(Published in Dunya News)
This growing water deficit is fast pushing Pakistan towards water poverty in the coming decades – a severe challenge for the government and policymakers. Without a sustainable and holistic water strategy and effective policymaking, a lot more cities and towns in the country will suffer the same fate as Cape Town. Perhaps even worse.
Update on Climate Change: It’s already happening!
(Published in The Nation Pakistan)
In Pakistan, we have already observed the effects of rising temperatures in 2015, when a drastic heat wave resulted in the deaths of more than 1,000 people. Droughts and forest fires are also being observed at an increasing rate in many parts of the world, putting the lives and livelihoods of communities at severe risk. For an agricultural economy like Pakistan, this poses severe threats to the economy and human lives.