COP28

The weekly round-up on the climate crisis and data on carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. The fires around Palermo, on the island of Rhodes, in Greece, in Algeria;the torrential rains that hit Milan at night;the record temperatures that continue from week to week and divide Europe, and Italy in particular, in two:thunderstorms in the north, Saharan dust in the centre-south. Perfect image to summarize what Italy is experiencing.Thunderstorms in the North and in part of Tuscany, intrusion of Saharan dust in the centre-south suspended within desert air masses.It is the last act of 17 days that are unlikely to be forgotten. pic.twitter.com/RJ7OgwRZwu— Giulio Betti (@Giulio_Firenze) July 25, 2023 If we needed further manifestations of the effects of the climate crisis, we are experiencing them first-hand. At all latitudes, from the far west to Japan.Nevertheless it's still there those who sow doubts, belittle and pollute the public debate by claiming that it is not the first...

Reading down the lengthy final agreement of the COP28 United Nations climate conference held in December 2023, you’ll go a long way before finding a strong, active verb. The lengthy recitation of climate impacts “notes with concern” and occasionally with “significant concern” glaring gaps in countries’ current policies. But while countries volunteered pledges to act, they were less keen to have those pledges framed as binding agreements in the final text. Reactions to COP28’s conclusion have been understandably mixed. Going into the talks, the world was more on track to avert catastrophic warming than it would have been without the 2015 Paris Agreement, but a long way from where it needs to be. Even if all the pledges made at COP28 are implemented, the world will still exceed the Paris goal of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) compared to preindustrial temperatures....

Shortly after the opening ceremony of the 2023 United Nations climate negotiations in Dubai, delegates of nations around the world rose in a standing ovation to celebrate a long-awaited agreement to launch a loss and damage fund to help vulnerable countries recover from climate-related disasters. But the applause might not yet be warranted. The deal itself leaves much undecided and has been met with criticism by climate justice advocates and front-line communities. I teach global environmental politics and climate justice and have been attending and observing these negotiations for over a decade to follow the demands for just climate solutions, including loss and damage compensation for countries that have done the least to cause climate change. COP28 President Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, center, walks with world leaders and representatives of countries to the climate summit’s opening ceremony. The loss and damage fund was one of the fi...

Nine years ago, I stood on the muddy banks of the Great Marsh, a salt marsh an hour north of Boston, and pulled a thumb-sized crab with an absurdly large claw out of a burrow. I was looking at a fiddler crab – a species that wasn’t supposed to be north of Cape Cod, let alone north of Boston. As it turned out, the marsh I was standing in would never be the same. I was witnessing climate change in action. The Great Marsh is on the Gulf of Maine, the piece of the Atlantic that extends approximately from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Nova Scotia, Canada. The marshes along the gulf are critical breeding sites for many bird species. But the water there is warming faster than almost anywhere else on the planet. And with warming water comes warm-water species. Marsh grass is essential for both habitat and adapting to sea-level rise in the Great Marsh. David S. Johnson Maryland blue crab and black...

The text approved in the United Arab Emirates includes atomic energy among zero-emission technologies for the first time, but does not consider it "strategic"