Al Gore arrives at UN summit – Gets poetic in call for Lima climate action
…2014 ‘Warmest ever’? ‘Conflicting Reports’ – Surface temps show it may be warmer by ‘a couple hundredths of a degree Celsius’ — A Fancy Ways of Saying Temp Standstill Continues!
…UN Chief: Give me more money
…Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. rips NYT’s Coral Davenport for ‘false claims’ about typhoons: ‘Tropical cyclones, including the most powerful ones, have not become more common in the Philippines’
…Australia to give $200 million to UN climate fund
…Lima climate talks hear big polluters should pay for climate ‘damage’
…Climatologist Dr. Judith Curry: ‘Attempts to spin 2014 as a possible ‘warmest year’ is spin designed to influence the Lima UN deliberations’
By Dr. Judith Curry, former Chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology
Via: http://judithcurry.com/2014/12/09/spinning-the-warmest-year
Spinning the ‘warmest year’
by Judith Curry
The buzz is intensifying about 2014 possibly being the warmest year globally in the historical temperature record.
The spin
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued a Press Release on 3 Dec:2014 on course to be one of the hottest, possibly hottest, on record. Excerpts:
WMO’s provisional statement on the Status of the Global Climate in 2014indicated that the global average air temperature over land and sea surface for January to October was about 0.57° Centigrade (1.03 Fahrenheit) above the average of 14.00°C (57.2 °F) for the 1961-1990 reference period, and 0.09°C (0.16 °F) above the average for the past ten years (2004-2013).
If November and December maintain the same tendency, then 2014 will likely be the hottest on record, ahead of 2010, 2005 and 1998. This confirms the underlying long-term warming trend. It is important to note that differences in the rankings of the warmest years are a matter of only a few hundredths of a degree, and that different data sets show slightly different rankings.
“The provisional information for 2014 means that fourteen of the fifteen warmest years on record have all occurred in the 21st century,” said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. “There is no standstill in global warming,” he said.
“What we saw in 2014 is consistent with what we expect from a changing climate. Record-breaking heat combined with torrential rainfall and floods destroyed livelihoods and ruined lives. What is particularly unusual and alarming this year are the high temperatures of vast areas of the ocean surface, including in the northern hemisphere,” he said.
“Record-high greenhouse gas emissions and associated atmospheric concentrations are committing the planet to a much more uncertain and inhospitable future. WMO and its Members will continue to improve forecasts and services to help people cope with more frequent and damaging extreme weather and climate conditions,” said Mr Jarraud.
The provisional statement was published to inform the annual climate change negotiations taking place in Lima, Peru. WMO also updated its acclaimed Weather Reports for the Future series, with scenarios for the weather in 2050 based on the Fifth Assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change, which is co-sponsored by WMO and the UNEP. Newly added reports
Hardly green, Lima UN climate talks on track for record carbon footprint
Carbon footprint:
—Construction, nearly 20 percent of the footprint.
—Jet fuel burned by the estimated 11,000 delegates and observers who flew in from abroad. About 30 percent.
—Local transportation. Organizers hired more than 300 buses since there are no public transit services to the venue. All burn fossil fuels. About 15-20 percent.
—Electricity, solid waste treatment, water, paper, food, disposable plates and cups, keeping 40,000 police on high alert. The balance.
A more accurate carbon footprint will be published after the conference and certified by the Spanish company Aenor, organizers say. U.N. volunteers have been polling delegates on their air travel in search of precision.
The conference’s green components are meager.
Peruvian Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal asked for a bicycle parking lot. He got it, but only about 40 people use it daily. Most delegates spend about an hour in traffic traveling less than 6 miles (10 kilometers) from their hotels.
Blame that, in part, on the army. It initially balked on letting in bikes even though only the credentialed can enter the base known as “El Pentagonito.”…
Goal to End Fossil Fuels by 2050 Proposed at Lima UN Climate Talks
Goal to End Fossil Fuels by 2050 Proposed at Lima Climate Talks
http://ecowatch.com/2014/12/09/end-fossil-fuels-2050-lima-climate-talks/
It’s one of the most ambitious proposals to come out of the conference… The post Goal to End Fossil Fuels by 2050 Proposed at Lima Climate Talks appeared first on EcoWatch.
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350.org Protests Allowing Fossil Fuel Lobbyists To Attend Lima UN Summit
Report from COP-20 in Lima: 350.org Protests Allowing Fossil Fuel Lobbyists To Attend
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/globalwarmingorg/~3/R4vRWwphKTc/
My first day at the twentieth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-20) in Lima, Peru was pleasant, but a little dull. The energy level of leaders, delegates, and environmental NGOs seems a little low. And I missed what sounds like the most interesting event of the day–a side event on carbon capture and storage (CCS). 350.org, other environmental pressure groups, and indigenous people’s groups from Colombia, Peru, and Canada staged a protest that delayed the event. They called on the UNFCC to ban fossil fuel lobbyists from attending the COP and all future climate negotiations. Spokesmen for indigenous communities accused Shell and Chevron of environmental crimes and human rights violations. 350.org’s point is that fossil fuels should not be used even with carbon capture and storage. The event was sponsored by the Global Carbon and Capture Storage Institute. Speakers from the World Coal Association and Shell were—astonishingly and amusingly—joined by Nicholas, Lord Stern (of Stern Review infamy). The protesters tried unsuccessfully to convince Stern not to speak. Perhaps he was being paid. The session on CCS was part of a series sponsored by the International Emissions Trading Association, whose corporate members hope to get rich off of energy-rationing policies that impoverish people. IETA is a strong supporter of the UN climate agenda. Shell Oil supports a carbon tax in the U S.
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