Climate change has already brought many animal and plant species at the very brink of extinction while other plants and animals are shrinking in size because of warmer temperatures.
Jennifer Sheridan and David Bickford at the National University of Singapore have studied climate-change episodes in the distant past as well as experiments and observations in recent history. Their conclusion was that climate change has already begun to shrink dozens of animal and plants species with many more likely to follow.
Fossil records from the past clearly show that past periods of rising temperatures had led both marine and land organisms to gradually shrink in size. During a warming event 55 million years ago many species such as beetles, bees, spiders, wasps and ants shrank by 50 to 75 percent in size over a period of several thousand years.
The most worrying fact is that the current warming trend is lot faster than the one of 55 million years ago. In the worst possible scenario if food crops and animals continue to shrink this will in years to come lead to severe food shortages and more hunger in the world.
The scientists have calculated that the each degree of warming reduces by 0.5 to 4 percent the body size of marine invertebrates and 6 to 22 percent of fish. Not only that, frequent droughts also lead to smaller offspring.
The additional problem in the whole climate change story is the fact that our planet is warming really fast which doesn't leave much room for plants and animals to adapt quickly enough.
EU's main climate goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020. After a 7% drop in greenhouse gas emissions in 2009 many thought that EU will achieve this goal with relative ease. But 2009 was anything but a representative year in terms of emission cuts because of global recession.
According to the latest data European greenhouse gas emissions rose by 2.4% in 2010 boosted by an economic recovery and the increased use of heating fuels due to a very cold winter.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) said that this increase in emissions in 2010 does not mean that EU is no longer at the right track to achieve its climate target. What this really means is that the existing measures are not enough and that some EU countries will have to put lot more efforts in order to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
For instance, EU countries like Austria, Italy and Luxembourg will fail to achieve their Kyoto targets which will have negative effect on collective EU climate target.
One thing is sure, namely that EU will need different policies that would ensure further cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. These policies will have to put lot more emphasis to renewable energy, energy efficiency and pollution reduction.
Jacqueline McGlade, EEA executive director said that "we (EU) can reduce emissions further if we consider the climate impacts of various policies more systematically."
Some policies are more efficient than others, some give better short-term some better long-term results, some can be applied only in certain EU countries while others can be used everywhere. EU must be aware of all these details if it wants to successfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help tackle climate change on global level.
The difference in opinion between the developed and the developing world is still main stumbling block in climate change talks any by the current looks of it world is still extremely far from agreeing the Kyoto successor. The failure to reach new climate deal will mean that countries will have to commit to only voluntary steps which are unlikely to halt climate change impact.
By delaying the necessary climate change action in form of new legally binding international climate deal world is taking a huge gamble. The result of this risky policy could very easily be manifested in extreme droughts, floods, storms, crop failures, and even new diseases.
The emissions still continue to grow and world is heating up, particularly because fast developing countries like China and India need more coal and other fossil fuels to drive their economies forward.
Developing world doesn't give up on its stand that rich countries need to commit to tougher carbon cuts while rich nations believe that all big polluters need to be equally included in carbon cuts, including the likes of China and India.
In the meantime climate change has already started showing its scary face as according to the US National Weather Service extreme weather events (together with floods) have already accounted to $35 billion in damage in the first seven months of this year. This projected damage doesn't include billions in losses coming from the hurricane Irene which struck the United States in August.
The climate change is constantly moving forward, strengthening its impact while world leaders haven't moved an inch in their negotiations.
And what about the most vulnerable countries such as for instance low-lying islands? Sea levels are rising very fast and the quick climate action is the only way to stop them from rising even higher.
World still hasn't matured enough to realize that climate change issue is not a good place to fortify individual political wills. Climate change is global threat that is already affecting the lives of millions people around the globe and things can only become worse if we remain ignorant about it.
If climate change issue can't unite the world what can? The stakes can't be higher because we are gambling here with the destiny of our future generations. Is this risk really worth to take just because of different political interests?
Renewable energy is growing at a record level in many countries around the globe and also the use of energy sources is becoming more and more efficient. But how much does this actually count in our fight against climate change? Very little, because carbon dioxide emissions still continue to grow even despite these measures. Why is that?
The main reason why renewable energy and improved energy efficiency aren't able to halt the growth in carbon emissions is the ever-increasing demand for power and transport, which is the strongest in developing countries such as China and India.
The economic boom in developing countries craves for more power and transport to keep it going and most of this power and transport comes from the fossil fuels because renewable energy, despite its remarkable growth in the last ten years, is still a minor source of energy when compared to coal, oil and natural gas.
Something needs to change in global climate policy but this so much needed change in global climate policy is nowhere to be seen on the horizon because world leaders still cannot agree on new climate deal. The climate talks have so far been anything but successful because there is still no consensus between the developed and the developing world about what our next step should be.
All eyes are set on US and China, two largest carbon emitters in the world. China is overall leader in carbon dioxide emissions while US is the largest CO2 emitter per capita by emitting 16.9 tonnes CO2 per capita, two and the half time as much as China at 6.8 tonnes per capita.
The transition to renewable is still not going as fast as it should go. Not only that, the majority of energy analysts agree that fossil fuels will remain dominant energy sources till at least 2050, which in business as usual scenario means that the climate change will reach the point of no return (the global temperature increase of two degrees Celsius).
This will account for frequent extreme weather events such as tsunamis and hurricanes, cause global sea level rise, drought, floods, hunger, new diseases and millions of refugees.
World leaders are still not taking the threat of climate change seriously. It seems like they believe they have all the time in the world to do something about it. The truth is that the time for action has almost run out. No more talks, give us the necessary action. Please.
Climate change has many scary faces so it's really no surprise that many environmentalists refer to climate change as the biggest environmental threat of our time. Climate change however doesn't have only negative environmental impact but also negative economic and social impact because it will very likely cause huge migrations of people in years to come.
The cocktail of extreme weather events and environmental disasters will be too difficult to swallow for many people and they will be forced to become (climate change) refugees and leave their homes in search for more habitable areas.
According to the latest report coming from Asia more than 30 million people across Asia were displaced by environmental disasters and weather-related events in 2010 as the region becomes increasingly vulnerable to effects of climate change.
The extreme weather events and different environmental disasters are becoming more frequent driving people away from these areas. Floods, droughts and major storms will continue to grow in frequency and strength in years to come leaving many millions more without a roof over their head.
The Asian Development Bank estimates that tens of millions more people across Asia and the Pacific will be forced to migrate to other regions driven away by the ever-growing climate change impact.
The countries need to give much more thoughts to adaptations to changes in climate such as building sea walls and restoring the mangrove swamps to reduce storm surges. These measures that are necessary will cost billions of dollars and poor countries won't be able to introduce them without the help of the rich world.
Population migrations as well as displacement of people are really another disaster waiting to happen because they will lead to economic volatility, regional conflict, and even wars.
Arctic’s see summer ice has experienced the new record low according to the European scientists. Since the measurement first started back in 1972 Arctic ice never covered such a small amount of area as it did this year, at only 4.24 million square kilometers. The second lowest year at record was 2007 when Arctic's summer ice covered an area of 4.27 million square kilometers.
The US scientists from the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) have calculated that the rate of melting in Arctic is now twice as big as it was first measured back in 1972.
At the same time the international team of scientists led by Stephen Barker of Cardiff University has studied the samples from Greenland's ice sheets. According to these samples climate is very capable to create rapid and abrupt changes because this has been a case of Earth's climate for hundreds of thousands of years.
In other climate news US scientists have also discovered that the polar ice caps currently are melting rapidly and that the sea level is rising at a rate of about 30 centimeters per century. If the current warming trend continues this will in years to come create huge threat to world's population that lives in coastal zones.
It is still impossible to predict future climate because of large number of different factors all of which need to be taken into account while making future climate predictions, not to mention that there is also a very complex interaction between these factors which makes future climate models even more difficult.
But science is at least trying, measuring, collecting various data and samples all in hope to provide world leaders with possible solutions that would halt the impact of climate change. Climate change is the biggest environmental threat of our time, an environmental threat that could even in the worst possible scenario threaten the existence of our future generations.
Soot emission (black carbon emission) refers to dust-like carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of a hydrocarbon and is one of the most important factors adding to a global warming and climate change.
American chemist Mark Z. Jacobson, Ph.D. believes that reducing soot emissions could significantly slow down melting of Arctic's sea ice.
He, in fact, believes that controlling soot and reducing soot emissions would reduce warming above parts of the Arctic Circle by almost 3 degrees Fahrenheit within the next 15 years. This scenario would be enough for Arctic to experience the temperatures of 100 years ago and erase all the warming that has happened since that time.
This is the quickest fix to Arctic's melting issue that could have an almost immediate effect. Soot emissions are the second most contributing factor to climate change behind carbon dioxide. Up to recently soot has been largely overlooked in climate models though soot emissions contribute to around 17 percent of global warming.
The major sources of soot emissions include exhaust from different diesel vehicles, agricultural machines, and also the wood/animal dung fires that hundreds of millions of people in developing countries use for cooking and heating.
Soot particles once released into atmosphere become suspended and absorb sunlight and then radiate that heat back into the air around it. Not only that, soot can also add to warming by absorbing the light reflected from Earth's surface.
Jacobson believes that implementing technologies for controlling soot emissions is lot easier compared to technologies that aim to reduce carbon emissions because the costs are much lower. For instance, diesel particulate filters, can remove soot from car and truck exhaust.
Not only that, soot doesn't stay for a very long time in atmosphere like carbon dioxide does. Soot disappears within a few weeks while carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for years.
Climate change will completely change our way of life and future generations will have their hands full in dealing with different climate change threats. Among the most talked about climate change threats is also a major sea level rise.
Sea levels are already increasing very fast and in years to come several areas of the world might completely disappear from the global map of the world, being completely swollen by water. This is the reason why people need to adapt very quickly to these changes, and who knows, the way things are currently going, maybe in years to come, floating homes will become a common sight in many countries of the world.
Some countries are more vulnerable to sea level rise than other, and some countries are also technologically much more superior to tackle this threat as compared to some other, mostly developing countries.
However, the lives of people should be equally valued in both developing as well as developed world which means that developed countries should create massive funds so that poor countries could develop adequate flood engineering solutions to tackle the sea level threat.
Many densely populated areas could experience problems with huge sea level rise, even before the end of this century, and world leaders need to start thinking right away about the possible technologies that could protect these areas from massive flooding.
Failure to do so will not only create millions of refugees but also millions of deaths. We must avoid this scenario, no matter what.
Glaciers, or to be more precise glaciers melting, is one of the most obvious indicators of climate change. The main reason behind the rapid melting of glaciers in many part of the world has been the significant increase in temperatures.
The warmer temperatures cause glaciers to retreat, and the only thing that can compensate for the rapid melting of glaciers is increase in snow precipitation. In many parts of the world snow wasn't enough to compensate for warmer temperatures which has resulted in massive shrinking of many glaciers on our planet.
Glaciers need to be observed for at least a decade before science can speak of retreat or expansion of certain glacier and this is usually done by observing satellite images in a longer period of time.
The special organization called the World Glacier Monitoring Service collects each year a different data on glacier retreat and glacier mass balance. According to their latest reports in period from 1980 till now there has been a trend of serious glacier retreating after a stable period from 1920-1970.
The majority of scientists also predicts that glaciers will continue their retreat unless world comes to a global climate change agreement that would significantly reduce carbon emissions on global level.
By the current looks of it world is still very far from reaching the legally obliging international climate deal which spells huge danger for glaciers on our planet. Rapid melting of the glaciers will in years to come not only cause big sea level rise but also a serious water shortage because glaciers are a key source of water for many areas around the world.
Climate change has already brought many animal and plant species at the very brink of extinction while other plants and animals are shrinking in size because of warmer temperatures.
