Tiempo Climate Newswatch

"It's the poorest of the poor in the world, and this includes poor people even in prosperous societies, who are going to be the worst hit," said Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as the second report of the latest IPCC assessment was released on April 6th 2007. Government officials and scientists met in Brussels, Belgium, to finalize the text of the IPCC Working Group II review of climate impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Martin Parry, working group co-chair, reported that there was now real evidence that climate change was having direct impacts. "For the first time, we are no longer arm-waving with models; this is empirical data, we can actually measure it," he said.

"Don't be poor in a hot country, don't live in hurricane alley, watch out about being on the coasts or in the Arctic, and it's a bad idea to be on high mountains with glaciers melting," said Stephen Schneider from Stanford University in the United States. The report projects that 75 to 250 million people across Africa could face water shortages by 2020. Crop yields could increase by 20 per cent in East and Southeast Asia, but decrease by up to 30 per cent in Central and South Asia. Agriculture fed by rainfall might drop by a half in some African countries by 2020. Twenty to 30 per cent of all plant and animal species are at increased risk of extinction if temperatures rise between 1.5 and 2.5 degrees Celsius. Glaciers and snow cover are expected to decline, reducing water availability in countries supplied by melt water. "This further underlines both how urgent it is to reach global agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and how important it is for us all to adapt to the climate change that is already under way," said European environment commissioner Stavros Dimas.

In an hour-long event intended to raise awareness of climate change, the lights went off in Sydney, Australia's largest city, at 19.30 local time on March 31st. During the Earth Hour, lights were turned off over most of the city's central business district and over many of the suburbs in at least 65,000 homes and 2,000 businesses. It is estimated that over two million people took part. Landmarks such as the Opera House and Harbour Bridge went dark and restaurants served meals by candlelight. The carbon dioxide saved was equivalent to taking 48,613 cars off the road for an hour.

The energy saving was estimated by Energy Australia at 10.2 per cent. "People really got behind the cause and showed they care about global warming. We originally thought five per cent would be a good result but this is more than double that - an exceptional result," said Tim O'Grady from Energy Australia. "It sends a very powerful message to all of us about how important it is to be energy efficient," he added. "It is one of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We hope that households and businesses now take the next step and start applying other energy efficiency measures in their homes." "On a range of environmental actions that we need to take - energy efficiency and water efficiency - individual action is the key, and this has shown what it can do," said Andy Ridley, speaking for the organizer WWF-Australia. WWF-Australia would like to see the event adopted worldwide so that a viewer from space would be able to see darkness cascade around the planet for next year's Earth Hour.

"Extreme events like droughts, floods, tropical cyclones, severe storms, cold and hot spells, among others, are often associated with loss of life and property, famine, mass migration, disease, pollution and environmental degradation, and other far-reaching threats and disasters. However, appropriate weather, climate and water services can help societies to meet, or at least to reduce substantially, much of the death and destruction," according to Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Jarraud was speaking at the opening of a WMO international conference on the social and economic benefits of weather, climate and water services in Madrid, Spain, in March 2007.

The 500 participants adopted the Madrid Conference Statement and Action Plan. The Action Plan calls on the international community "to achieve, within five years, a major enhancement of the value to society of weather, climate and water information and services in response to the critical challenges represented by rapid urbanization, economic globalization, environmental degradation, natural hazards and the threats from climate change." Participants concluded that this would require a strengthening of the capacities of national meteorological and hydrological services (NMHSs). "It's clear that NMHSs in many countries are cripplingly underfunded and lack political influence at the highest level," commented WMO President Alexander Bedritsky. A closer dialogue among providers and users of weather, climate and water information and services will also be necessary.