Which country is most vulnerable to climate change?

Climate change will affect whole planet but some countries will be more affected than others. For instance if sea levels are about to rise according to scientific predictions then Bangladesh could soon disappear under the sea, and the same destiny could await some richer countries, like for instance Netherlands. When we talk about world's most powerful countries then many scientists see China as the country most vulnerable to climate change.

China is currently world's biggest polluter heavily dependent upon fossil fuels, most notably coal to keep its economic growth up and running. Despite big investments in renewable energy sector like wind energy and hydropower China is likely to remain heavily dependent upon fossil fuels, for at least couple of decades. The Current situation that China is in is really a tricky one because Chinese are aware that they have to curb greenhouse gas emissions but they do not want to sacrifice their economic boom to do so.

What is the impact of methane to climate change and global warming?

The greenhouse gas that mostly contributes to global warming and climate change is carbon dioxide (CO2). The second most harmful greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming is methane(CH4). Methane is mostly emitted by agriculture(the most famous source comes from cows burping), though methane is also released from fossil fuels burning (coal and natural gas). Currently widely accepted conclusion is that methane is 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide, meaning it is 25 times better at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2. However some latest studies imply that methane is much more potent than most scientists agree, up to 33 times better at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2, at least this is what Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies said in its latest report.

How will climate change affect organisms on Earth?

Many scientists will agree that climate change is already happening, and that we cannot stop it. The only thing we can do is to make sure we do not give more impact to climate change, and this can be done by significantly decreasing global greenhouse gas emission levels. This is what most scientists agree upon but the one thing where there are still many different theories among scientists is how will climate change affect organisms on Earth. This is still in the sphere of theories and predictions, though most agree that climate change will have extremely negative impact on most organisms that live on our planet.

How much of carbon dioxide can oceans and forests absorb?

Brand new research from Bristol university team found rather surprising results that are in contradiction with similar researches done over the past years. According to this research the absorbed amount of carbon dioxide has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite the rise of emissions of carbon dioxide from about 2 billion tons a year in 1850 to 35 billion tons a year now. Does this mean that oceans and forests have much larger CO2 sinking ability than we previously thought they have?

Canada will fail to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

According to the Environment Canada, the country’s major environmental agency, Canada will fail to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve its 2020 targets because of emissions from tar sands. 

The rapid development of tar sands in Canada which injects steam into thick oil deposits to produce oil will account for 62 million metric tons of CO2 emissions from 2005 to 2020, almost dwarfing 31 million metric tons in planned CO2 reductions as Canada’s power plants switch from burning coal to natural gas. 

The recent study by Canada’s Pembina Institute estimates that by 2020 Alberta’s tar sands will account for 12 percent of Canada’s total CO2 emissions. 

Tar sands will be the main reason why Canada will likely exceed its 2020 CO2 emissions reductions target by gigantic 178 million metric tons. 

The Canadian fossil fuel industry, as expected, has denied these reports claiming they are far blown out of proportion because new technologies being employed in tar sands will help significantly reduce emissions in the upcoming years. 

One thing is sure though, Canada has a very difficult task in reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in years to come.

Russia's permafrost melting will add to global climate change impact

Russia's permafrost melting could further increase global climate change impact as according to the latest scientific estimates Russia could lose 15-30 percent of its permafrost by the year 2050.

Permafrost refers to the soil that has been permanently frozen and it currently covers around 63% of Russia's territory. Once permafrost melts it will release massive amounts of greenhouse gas methane currently stored in the frozen soil which will add more impact to climate change.

Not only that, thawing of permafrost will also give huge problems to transportation, building, and energy extraction infrastructure, accounting also for huge economic damage.

The temperatures in western Siberia territories will rise by up to two degrees Celsius to just three or four degrees below zero which will result in shifting of the boundary of the permafrost to the north-east by 150-200 kilometres.

This negative news have come from the Andrei Bolov, the head of the ministry's disaster monitoring department. He also added that "the negative impact of permafrost degradation on all above-ground transportation infrastructure is clear.

There are no easy solutions for climate change

The ideal solution to solve the climate change issue would be turning carbon dioxide (CO2) into something useful such as fuel and plastics but the current scientific reports claim that this solution is years off, mostly because of very high construction costs.

Some pilot projects showed great promise such as manufacture of concrete, plastics and oils from carbon dioxide but the main drawbacks of all these pilot projects were high construction and operational costs.

Carbon capture and storage solutions that aim to store and bury carbon dioxide underground are also connected with relatively high costs but are currently receiving more attention than technologies that aim to transform CO2 into some useful products. However, these technologies have so far been used only in some regional pilot projects, still lacking global character.

This means that at this moment the only possible solution to tackle climate change is to significantly reduce global level of greenhouse gas emissions and this sadly cannot be achieved without the international climate deal.

International climate deal also looks to be years off because there is still a huge difference in opinion between developed and the developing world. The world leaders continue with their talks and promises but there's nothing concrete coming out of it. Hope for new climate deal seems to be fading away with each new disappointing talk.

At this moment there doesn't seem to be some easy solution to tackle climate change. There's no magic trick that will return climate back to the normal, the only solution at this time is to make a drastic cut in greenhouse gas emissions.

Is our planet still warming?

It may not seem that way to us but scientists continue to claim that our planet is still warming, and that climate change is very much a reality we live in. This was the conclusion of the newest review of climate data that included 26 climate scientists from eight countries, and all these scientists agreed how Earth is really warming, and how the global warming could reach as high as 7 degrees temperature increase by the end of the century if greenhouse gases growth continues its current trend.

Is huge sea level rise likely to happen?

Most climate change predictions have concluded that sea levels will globally rise around 1 meter by the end of this century. Such sea level rise is already huge, but a major review of climate change in Antarctica conducted by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR)come up with even bigger numbers, namely that sea levels could rise 1,4m by the end of this century.

Hope to stop the climate change is already lost?

Climate talks have failed in the most important issue, namely to specify the carbon emission cuts, and the only thing that can be characterized as some sort of success is the "agreement" that outlined a goal of providing $100bn a year by 2020 to help poor countries and also promised to deliver $30bn of aid for developing nations over the next three years. These are significant commitments but are they enough for us to be optimistic?

Difficult to say. China and India did not want legally binding targets about carbon emissions because they want to continue their impressive economic growth at any cost, and though most delegates backed a US proposal that included limiting temperature rises to less than 2C, at the end the 193-nation summit ended with delegates taking "note" of the deal. Taking note is definitely not enough.

Though you have the general feeling like for the first time in human history both developed and developing countries look ready to fight the climate change problem, somehow it still looks like the differences between these countries are still making things extremely difficult in reaching new climate deal.

And the result of this is that we now have a declaration, instead of legally obliging deal. So much hopes, so much talks, so much world leaders on one place, such an important issues, and all we have is a declaration. It should have been so much more.

Climate talks will likely be the main topic in the upcoming months but from the current point of view it definitely does not look like the climate deal will be struck in any time soon.

After so many months of hope, hope that world has finally reach the point to put aside the difference in opinion, and struck deal about this vital issue, all we are left with is an empty accord with no legally binding targets, and no money guaranteed to be over and above existing aid budgets.

World has yet again showed its true face by showing how little we care for our planet. Pathetic and embarrassing.