earth hour 2012 Official video

Droughts caused by climate change destroy forests

Our forests store approximately 45 percent of the carbon found on land which means that they are vital in our fight against climate change. However, the increased climate change impact has in the last ten years resulted in frequent droughts that have caused deaths of trees in all continents, except Antarctica.

Dying of trees and lesser forest cover gives extra impact to global warming by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere by trees and also by releasing carbon that was locked up in their wood.

The death of forests trees can also have huge impact on biodiversity; rainforests for instance belong to the areas with the richest biodiversity on our planet so increased forest mortality can irreversibly alter many ecosystems.

If droughts continue they will cause major damage to our forests in years to come. Droughts negatively affect transport of water in trees which results in tree deaths and they also cause huge wildfires.

One of the recent examples of what drought is doing to trees comes from Texas where wildfires destroyed around 175 million cubic feet of timber, according to Texas Forest Service economists and analysts. The economic value of all those trees as they stood in the forest was $97 million. The total volume of all that destroyed timber could have produced $1.6 billion worth of different forest products.

Climate change still low on political agenda

Climate change is still low on political agenda and world leaders are yet again more worried about global finances than about global climate, just like this was the case in 2009. Big European debt crisis accompanied by the recent US economic woes are taking away from climate talks in Durban any chance of success.

The scientists have already issued warnings that greenhouse gases are back on rise in the atmosphere which causes faster melting of polar ice caps and increases the global sea levels.

It is almost the same scenario as in 2009, namely financial crisis is once again being used as an excuse to delay any significant climate change action. Because of the financial crisis politicians are once again unwilling to put hands in their pockets and come up with the money needed to adapt to global climate changes.

The three largest polluters in the world -China, United, States and India are extremely reluctant to commit to any significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. None of these three countries is ready to sign new climate deal yet none of these countries want to be blamed for failure in reaching new climate deal.

It seems like each of these three major polluters has some conditions under which deal should be signed. They all seem to be forgetting that climate change is global issue which means no conditionality but unity. At this moment in time global political unity certainly looks more like the utopia than actual reality.

If world fails to agree on new climate deal any time soon greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise increasing global temperature between three and five degrees Celsius by the end of this century. Such temperature increase would forever change the life on our planet.

Let us think about the heritage we will leave to our children and grandchildren.

No optimism about climate change talks in Durban

Copenhagen 2009 – disappointment, Cancun 2010 – disappointment and Durban 2011 - you guessed again disappointment. The climate change talks in Durban, South Africa have started but expectations are very low, in fact many analysts believe that the new climate deal isn't possible in this political climate any time soon.

The Kyoto protocol expires next year and it certainly doesn't look like world leaders are ready to revive it. This is because two world's largest polluters, China and United States, the countries that hadn't even signed Kyoto protocol do not agree to carbon emission cuts.

China is still classed as a developing country and United States feels that China should oblige to same cuts as developing world. China, on the other hand, believes that United States and the rest of the developing world have mainly contributed to climate change issue and so they must oblige to larger cuts in emissions.

The fact that scientists are constantly issuing warnings that the world needs to drastically reduce the emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases doesn't seem to be giving too many sleepless nights to world leaders.

World's largest polluters are running away from new climate deal and a swift action to stave off the catastrophic effects of global warming is still nowhere on the radar.

Optimism is certainly not the word associated with the climate talks in Durban. The major players have already clearly announced their unwillingness to negotiate their positions so any hope to reach new climate deal any time soon seems to be totally lost.

Climate change will cause more extreme weather events

When thinking about the worst possible climate change scenario extreme weather events are really the first thing that comes to my mind. There are many scientists across the globe who would agree that if we fail to significantly decrease global level of carbon emissions this scenario will become our everyday's reality.

The latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on climatic extreme events also shares this opinion. According to UN heatwaves will become significantly longer, hotter and increase in frequency, and rainfall will be heavier during the 21st century, all because of the increased climate change impact.

It was also concluded that there is an increased risk from hurricanes and cyclones as wind speeds in hurricanes and tropical cyclones were likely to increase though there is still not enough evidence to draw firm conclusions for each region.

There is also a chance of an increase in danger in high mountains from landslides and the bursts of glacial lakes. All these phenomena will account for not only major environmental but also major economic damage measured in billions of dollars.

There's a very little chance that this newest report will have any effect at international climate talks that will soon begin in Durban, South Africa. World leaders apparently still believe we have all the time in the world to tackle climate change issue.

And the carbon emissions continue to grow, increasing global temperatures and bringing us very close to a global temperature increase of two degrees Celsius which is seen by many scientists as the point of no return in our fight against climate change.

Only united world can find solution to climate change

Climate change is by all means the greatest environmental threat of our time. Since climate change is a global issue it requires solution on global level which means that all countries of the world must be involved. However the unity of the world is highly questionable topic particularly when you consider almost no success in international climate talks up to this date.

The best solution to tackle climate change is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions on global level. However, many countries of the world are reluctant to commit to major carbon cuts because they fear this will have seriously negative economic impact. Don't be surprised, economy still heavily outweighs ecology, despite living in the 21st century.

Even if world eventually agrees on new climate deal it might be too late to stop climate change from running away with it. We have already witnessed to higher incidence of extreme weather events in many parts of the world with much more to come in years ahead.

In order to reduce carbon emissions on global level world will need to make a rapid transition to clean, renewable energy. The currently dominant fossil fuels when burn produce carbon emissions so the more fossil fuels gets replaced with renewable energy sources the better it will be in fight against climate change.

The transition to renewable energy is still not fast enough even despite the recent record growth of installed renewable energy capacity. Renewable energy sources are still more expensive energy option compared to fossil fuels which means that many countries, especially developing countries, still prefer them as a main driving force of their economies (this mostly refers to coal, the cheapest but also the dirtiest energy source).

World also needs to stop deforestation. Forests, especially rainforests, absorb large quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In fact our forests are together with our oceans the largest carbon sinkers.

The climate change has already reached the point where we have to think how to best adapt to it. Many scientists will tell you that term „tackling climate change“ no longer refers to completely stopping climate change but to make sure climate change does not cross the point of no return ( seen by many scientists as the global temperature increase of two degrees).

Climate change is really the first major issue that will test the unity of this world. Judging by the most recent reports regarding climate change talks, world is anything but united.

World needs to make switch to zero-carbon economy

We can still stop climate change from totally running out of control. However in order to do so we have to make sure to stop global temperatures' increase of two degrees. Many climate change scientists are convinced that this decade could well be our last chance for decisive action against climate change.

If only world leaders would share their opinion and agree on new climate deal. At this moment however new climate change deal looks anything but possible.

World needs to significantly reduce carbon emissions at global level and there are several possible solutions to achieve this- transition to renewable energy, increased energy efficiency as well as different other carbon-free technologies.

The temperatures will grow as long as we keep emitting carbon emissions therefore the perfect solution to tackle climate change would be for world to switch to zero carbon economy.

The first step to zero-carbon economy would no doubt be ambitious renewable energy targets and a quick transition to renewable energy sources as the primary sources of energy.

The zero-carbon economy scenario wouldn't sit well to powerful fossil fuel lobbies and since these lobbies still have huge influence over politics it is no surprise all major political decisions go their way.

The global politics needs to look above the individual interests because climate change is global threat which means that only united world has the chance to tackle it.

Why is climate change a major threat to Africa?

Africa is a continent most vulnerable to climate change. Already very hot and dry Africa will soon become even dryer and hotter due to climate change. More droughts will cause even more hunger in the Black Continent and Africa will find it extremely hard to cope with the climate change impact in years to come.

Africa's economy will take a massive hit by climate change, especially since Africa doesn't have enough money or the adequate policies to adapt to climate change. Without the help of rich countries Africa's future will look anything but bright.

African economy is still mostly based on agriculture despite the fact that there is a growing trend for industrialization in many African countries. The industrialization of Africa might worsen already serious climate change issue in Africa because most developing countries rely on coal as major fuel to boost their economies, which leads to more carbon emissions.

Africa needs to adopt green economy based on sustainable development and renewable energy but this is lot easier to said than done, especially with the high level of poverty in Africa.

The rich countries need to help Africa to come up with solutions that would ensure economic growth but at the same time avoid further harming the climate with more greenhouse gases.