global warming

What keeps Arctic scientists awake at night?

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From the lack of methane sinks to the high suicide rates of indigenous populations, Arctic researchers are studying a range of issues.

By Annette Ekin In a year when Arctic warming rose to global prominence after temperatures hit a sweltering 32˚C inside the Arctic Circle, what are some of the specific issues that keep Arctic scientists awake at night? Horizon caught up with eight experts in Reykjavik, Iceland, at the 6th edition of the Arctic Circle assembly, … Read more

Eliminating coal, oil and natural gas is the easy part of fighting climate change – Johan Rockström

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To stop climate change, it is not enough to eliminate the use of fossil fuels like brown coal, says Prof Rockström.

by Annette Ekin To avoid climate breakdown, eliminating fossil fuels is the easy part, according to Professor Johan Rockström, co-director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. He says that safeguarding biological resources such as water, soil and biodiversity will be the ultimate test of whether global warming targets can be reached. … Read more

Climate actions that lift people out of poverty are often most cost-effective

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Limiting global warming to 1.5°C would save hundreds of millions of vulnerable people from being exposed to the extremes of a 2°C world.

The most cost-effective climate change actions are also those that could help us achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) such as ending poverty and hunger, according to Dr Keywan Riahi, director of the energy program of the International Institute Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria, who says the first step should be to cut our energy … Read more

Global warming could be in reverse by 2050 if we take action now – Chad Frischmann

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Project Drawdown's research director says the paradigm around global warming needs to change into one of possibility and opportunity.

We could get to the stage where atmospheric greenhouse gases are in decline – a point known as drawdown – and begin to reverse global warming before 2050, but it will require us adopting solutions at an aggressive rate, according to Chad Frischmann, vice-president and research director of Project Drawdown. Project Drawdown is a worldwide … Read more

Global heatwave: Climate change is no longer a two-way debate – Dr Peter Stott

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With the EUPHEME project, Prof. Stott is linking extreme heatwaves and resulting wildfires to climate change.

The pattern of heatwaves causing record breaking temperatures across the northern hemisphere would not be seen without climate change, and they have firmly focused the conversation on what we can do about it rather than whether it’s happening, according to Peter Stott, professor of detection and attribution of climate change at the University of Exeter, UK. … Read more

Climate sensitivity – reducing the uncertainty of uncertainty

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New research aims at making climate change prediction more accurate.

Global warming is a reality – but just how bad will it be? A study published in January 2018 claims to halve the uncertainty around how much our planet’s temperature will change in response to rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, potentially giving governments more confidence to prepare for the future. The results suggest that, when it … Read more