Guest Blog: Communicating impacts and adaptation: Scientific guidelines
25/08/10 16:21
Many of us know from experience that opportunities arise at unlikely moments. “Never let a crisis go to waste,” was the famous line from Barak Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel. As the summer of 2010 dishes up one weather-related crisis 
after another, environmental-minded individuals and organizations around the globe may feel compelled and obligated to respond – both on the ground and in public statements about the genesis of these events. Is climate change to blame? In this season of extreme weather, we have an opportunity to solidify our messages and our standing as the conservation organization that can help policymakers and the public separate fact from fiction. But we must tread carefully.
Read More...
Read More...
Comments
Global Strategy Forum: Water Policy in a Shifting Climate
24/08/10 13:06
The Bled Strategic Forum: Global and National Water Policy for the Next Decade
30 August 2010, Bled, Slovenia
As a result of climate change, population growth, environmental degradation and increased demand for food and energy, almost half of the world's population will have lived in areas of high water stress by 2030. With longer droughts, more frequent extreme meteorological events and changes in precipitation patterns, global warming affects particularly the water cycle. Climate change will impact on the most vulnerable communities in developing countries, multiplying the effects of poverty, poor governance and political instability. Read More...
30 August 2010, Bled, Slovenia
As a result of climate change, population growth, environmental degradation and increased demand for food and energy, almost half of the world's population will have lived in areas of high water stress by 2030. With longer droughts, more frequent extreme meteorological events and changes in precipitation patterns, global warming affects particularly the water cycle. Climate change will impact on the most vulnerable communities in developing countries, multiplying the effects of poverty, poor governance and political instability. Read More...
Guest Blog: Pakistan Flooding: Impacts, Attribution, & Adaptation Solutions
21/08/10 08:03
by Hammad Naqi Khan, WWF-Pakistan Programs Director
We cannot attribute these floods in Pakistan solely to climate change but labeling them as an extreme weather event that probably has a climate change component is logical; the current seasonal monsoon rains and flows in the Indus river and a few of its tributaries are a 1 in 100 year event. The signature of climate change will take some time to quantify, but 2010 has a confluence of weird weather that probably has a link to human-induced climate change. Consider: 2010 is the globally warmest year on record to date, the record high temperatures and wildfires in Russia, the exceptionally high rainfall and mudslides in China, the below average rainfalls in Bangladesh and most of India, and extremely high rainfall and flows in northern Pakistan rivers (which carry snow/glacier melt).
Read More...
We cannot attribute these floods in Pakistan solely to climate change but labeling them as an extreme weather event that probably has a climate change component is logical; the current seasonal monsoon rains and flows in the Indus river and a few of its tributaries are a 1 in 100 year event. The signature of climate change will take some time to quantify, but 2010 has a confluence of weird weather that probably has a link to human-induced climate change. Consider: 2010 is the globally warmest year on record to date, the record high temperatures and wildfires in Russia, the exceptionally high rainfall and mudslides in China, the below average rainfalls in Bangladesh and most of India, and extremely high rainfall and flows in northern Pakistan rivers (which carry snow/glacier melt).
Read More...
Pakistan flooding: live webcast from the Asia Society
18/08/10 11:28
The Asia Society invites you to participate in our upcoming Pakistan Flood Response, scheduled for this Thursday, August 19th, 2010 at 8:30 am ET via live webcast. Online viewers are encouraged to submit their questions to moderator@asiasociety.org before and during the webcast. We would also appreciate your help in getting the word out about this event to your networks. Thank you!
Read More...
Read More...
Video: Green Glaciers: The Melting Grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau
04/08/10 19:37
A video followup about climate change impacts and adaptation options on the Tibetan plateau. Read More...
Madonna and Child, with Climate Change
02/08/10 09:02
This is a story about what fear for the climate of the future looks like, on a personal level. I usually try to be optimistic in these entries. This one is less so.
We had been touring the eastern plateau in Qinghai province, western China, for over a week, slowly making our way up to the headwaters of the Mekong river. Each day was sunny and clear, but every evening clouds would gather rapidly. A wall of blustery rain would approach, pushing us to set up our little tents quickly under cover and have a wet meal under plastic.
Read More...
We had been touring the eastern plateau in Qinghai province, western China, for over a week, slowly making our way up to the headwaters of the Mekong river. Each day was sunny and clear, but every evening clouds would gather rapidly. A wall of blustery rain would approach, pushing us to set up our little tents quickly under cover and have a wet meal under plastic.
Read More...
