The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
Japan should shun a "politically inexplicable" option of a rise in greenhouse gas emissions when it sets a 2020 target in coming days, the U.N.'s top climate change official said on Wednesday. Yvo de Boer told Reuters he hoped that both Japan and Russia, the two largest industrialized nations which …
Small Pacific islands vulnerable to rising sea levels won a symbolic victory at the United Nations on Wednesday with the passage of a resolution recognizing climate change as a possible threat to security. The non-binding resolution, passed by consensus by the General Assembly, may help put climate change on the …
A Mexican proposal to raise billions of dollars to fight climate change is winning backing in talks on a new U.N. treaty, paradoxically because no one really likes it, a Mexican official said on Wednesday. "It has something for everyone, although everyone will dislike part of it. That's the beauty …
Rich and poor countries criticized a first draft text of a new United Nations climate treaty Monday but grudgingly accepted it as the basis for six months of arduous negotiations. "We ... have some dismay about the way it has been structured," Jonathan Pershing, head of the U.S. delegation at …
As the first responders to the impacts of climate change, local governments play a crucial role in implementing the actions and strategies that will reduce their communities
As the first responders to the impacts of climate change, local governments play a crucial role in implementing the actions and strategies that will reduce their communities
Warm weather in 2007 helped the European Union towards its target of cutting global warming gases under the UN Kyoto Protocol for fighting climate change, but Spain, Italy and Ireland remained way off track. Soaring transport emissions also offset many of the advances made by the 27-nation bloc, EU data …
Rich nations as a group are unlikely to reach the deep 2020 cuts in greenhouse gas emissions urged by developing nations as part of a new UN climate treaty, the top US climate envoy said on Friday. China, India and other developing nations say the rich must do most to …
This latest Greenpeace report says that climate change could bring about significant change to the intensity, geographic distribution and inter seasonal breaks in the Indian monsoon, which would have enormous social consequences. The Indian monsoon
With their boundless vistas of turquoise water framed by swaying coconut palms, the Carteret Islands northeast of the Papua New Guinea mainland might seem the idyllic spot to be a castaway. Stuart Beck, the permanent representative for Palau at the United Nations, in 2005. But sea levels have risen so …
In the debate over global warming, one thing is clear: as the planet gets warmer, sea levels will rise. But how much, where and how soon? Those questions are notoriously hard to answer. Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, in Boulder, Colo., are now adding to the complexity …
New York, Boston and other cities on North America's northeast coast could face a rise in sea level this century that would exceed forecasts for the rest of the planet if Greenland's ice sheet keeps melting as fast as it is now, researchers said on Wednesday. Sea levels off the …
Washington defended its plans to cut its greenhouse gas emissions as among the most ambitious in the world Tuesday as major economies meeting in Paris rallied around a Mexican plan to raise cash to fight climate change. "The United States is proposing to make a seismic change" in toughening policy, …
China won praise for moves to cap its surging greenhouse gas emissions at a meeting of major economies on Tuesday, even as Germany criticised the lack of progress towards a new United Nations climate treaty. "China is very active," French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo told reporters on the second day …
Rising sea levels that could wipe whole nations off the map and displace scores of millions of people are being overlooked in global climate change talks, island countries said. Major emitters are pushing for greenhouse gas emissions cuts that are too low to prevent devastating sea rises, representatives said at …
France and Germany suggested on Monday that rich nations should collectively guarantee deep cuts in greenhouse gases by 2020 while giving flexibility to laggards such as the United States to catch up later. France said the idea, floated at talks among 17 top greenhouse gas emitters including China, United States, …
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Monday he was confident the world would sign a global deal to combat climate change in Copenhagen in December. Barroso urged European industry to gear up for a green technology race instead of shoring up outdated, high-carbon business models. "I am confident …
A rise in concentrations of a powerful greenhouse gas over the Arctic after a decade of stability is stirring worries about a possible thaw of vast stores trapped in permafrost, experts said. Levels of methane in the atmosphere rose 0.6 percent in 2008, according to preliminary data from the Zeppelin …
Hospitals and their emergency vehicles, which are major polluters, must join the fight against climate change, the World Health Organisation said on Friday. "The health sector can contribute a lot to reduce the carbon footprint because the health sector in many countries is the second most important user and energy …
The United States will try to persuade rich and poor countries to share the burden of fighting climate change next week, with a big US pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions likely to help mend ties. Washington will hold talks among major economies, including China, the European Union, Russia, India …
