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A building damaged by Cyclone Harold in Vanuatu on April 7, 2020. It has since moved on to Fiji. PHILIPPE CARILLO / AFP via Getty Images
After flattening buildings and cutting communications on the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu Monday and Tuesday, Cyclone Harold moved on to batter Fiji Wednesday.
<p>The storm is also expected to reach the island nation of Tonga within days, in a reminder of how vulnerable Pacific nations are to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather" target="_self">extreme weather</a> events <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/is-climate-change-to-blame-for-more-intense-hurricanes-and-typhoons-1882175406.html" target="_self">supercharged</a> by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> and made more dangerous by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">sea level rise</a>.</p><p>"It is unfair that countries on the frontlines of the crisis, like those in the Pacific, are constantly having to bear the brunt of the economic impacts of extreme weather events, that are made worse by carbon pollution in places like Australia," <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org.au/" target="_blank">Greenpeace Australia Pacific</a> Head of Pacific Joseph Moeono-Kolio said in a <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org.au/blog/pacific-braces-for-the-impacts-of-climate-fuelled-disaster/" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p>
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<p>In Fiji, the storm struck the largest and most populous island of Viti Levu, home to its capital of Suva. It flattened buildings and caused <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/08/cyclone-harold-batters-fiji-on-path-of-destruction-through-pacific" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>.</p><p>"The worst of TC Harold will strike Fiji through this afternoon … Flying debris and floodwaters can be deadly. All Fijians should stay indoors unless directed to evacuate," Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama warned early Wednesday.</p><p>Injuries were reported in Suva, according to <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-fiji-cyclone/cyclone-harold-flattens-homes-brings-injuries-in-fiji-idUKKBN21Q0HW" target="_blank">Reuters</a>, but the storm also cut communication lines.</p><p>"We've seen reports of injuries," Vasiti Soko, the director of the National Disaster Management Office, told Reuters by telephone. "As to the number, as well as the intensity, of the injuries, that's yet to be ascertained."</p>
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<p>There is discrepancy in the reports of how intense Harold was when it reached Fiji. Reuters reports it was still a Category 5 storm, while The Guardian said it had decreased to a Category 4.</p><p>In either case, the storm's arrival was complicated by the need to stem the spread of the new <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a>.</p><p>Fiji is in lockdown and currently has 15 confirmed cases and no deaths, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/world/australia/cyclone-harold-vanuatu.html?campaign_id=51&emc=edit_MBE_p_20200408&instance_id=17460&nl=morning-briefing&regi_id=88631294&section=whatElse&segment_id=24256&te=1&user_id=d8eb7cee9d3c5ab39515239b6ec54d19" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p><p>However, the government said on Twitter it had taken measures to prepare for a storm striking during the outbreak.</p><p>"Given this virus struck Fiji in cyclone season, we knew from the start we had to weatherproof our Covid-19 containment efforts to the very real possibility of a severe storm striking," the government wrote.</p>
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<p>Bainimarama said those measures included virus-proofing shelters.<br></p><p>"Our evacuation centres are safe, they are sanitised and monitored to ensure they do not surpass capacity," he said in a social media post reported by Reuters. "Those under quarantine due to the threat of coronavirus will not mix with others."</p><p>There have been no reports of fatalities in the storm, but 10 homes in Suva were destroyed.</p><p>Meanwhile, the extent of the damage in Vanuatu is still uncertain, as communications are still down to the hardest-hit islands of Espiritu Santo, Malo and Pentecost, according to The Guardian. It is expected their restoration will bring bad news today.</p><p>It is known that northern Vanuatu suffered its worst direct hit from a topical cyclone on record, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/04/07/tropical-cyclone-harold-rakes-fiji-after-slamming-vanuatu-category-5-strength/" target="_blank">The Washington Post reported</a>.</p><p>Next in the crosshairs is Tonga, where a supermoon and high tide warning for Thursday and Friday could exacerbate the damage, The Guardian reported. The storm is expected to strike the country in 48 hours.</p>
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Locals board up their shops in Vanuatu's capital of Port Vila on April 6, 2020 ahead of Tropical Cyclone Harold. PHILIPPE CARILLO / AFP via Getty Images
The most powerful extreme weather event of 2020 lashed the Pacific nation of Vanuatu Monday as it tries to protect itself from the new coronavirus.
<p>Cyclone Harold made landfall as a Category 5 storm on the island nation's north and west after strengthening off the coast on Sunday, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/06/communications-down-after-category-5-cyclone-harold-hits-vanuatu" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>.</p><p>"For those in Vanuatu it doesn't get much worse than this," <a href="https://www.weatherwatch.co.nz/content/it-doesnt-get-much-worse-than-this-category-5-cyclone-harold-aiming-for-vanuatu-today-10-maps" target="_blank">WeatherWatch.co.nz head forecaster Philip Duncan said</a>.</p>
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<p>The storm moved slowly over very warm ocean waters as it approached Vanuatu, Duncan said. The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is expected to make <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/is-climate-change-to-blame-for-more-intense-hurricanes-and-typhoons-1882175406.html" target="_self">tropical cyclones stronger and more intense</a> as they are fueled by warmer waters. It also makes them more devastating to islands like Vanuatu already battling <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">sea level rise</a>.</p><p>"As the Pacific battles to contain the spread of Covid-19, Tropical Cyclone Harold is a reminder that climate change represents yet another existential threat to nations like Vanuatu, that is not of their making," <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org.au/" target="_blank">Greenpeace</a> Australia Pacific head of Pacific Joseph Moeono-Kolio said in a <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org.au/news/75510/" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p><p>Harold made landfall with winds of up to 133 miles per hour around 1 p.m. local time in Sanma province, located on the country's largest island and home to its second-most populated city, Luganville, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-pacific-vanuatu/cyclone-pounds-vanuatu-levelling-buildings-amid-virus-shutdown-idUSKBN21O0HL" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>.</p><p>While there are no reports of injuries, images shared on social media show buildings flattened by the storm.</p>
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<p>"Communications to Santo and Malekula [Vanuatu's two largest islands] are cut now, so we don't know what's happening," Eric Durpaire, the chief of UNICEF Pacific's Vanuatu's field office, told The Guardian. "The latest information we had was that the roof of the municipality building of Santo has collapsed and there is <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a>."</p><p>The Vanuatu meteorology department recorded wind speeds of 135 miles per hour in Sanma and gusts of up to 145 miles per hour, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-52179853" target="_blank">according to BBC News</a>.</p><p>The last time that Vanuatu weathered a Category 5 storm was when <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-to-blame-for-devastating-cyclone-says-president-of-vanu-1882022397.html" target="_self">Cyclone Pam struck in 2015</a>. It needed massive amounts of international aid to recover, but help this time will be complicated by the global coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>"Restrictions to international borders and travelers won't be lifted after the cyclone. Humanitarian workers who wanted to come and assist, won't be able to, or they will have to do 14 days quarantine," Durpaire told The Guardian.</p><p>The coronavirus complicated cyclone preparation as well. Vanuatu has no confirmed cases of COVID-19, but is trying to keep it that way, as it is afraid its health system would be unable to handle an outbreak.</p>
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<p>To prevent the arrival and spread of the virus, Vanuatu has closed its borders, instituted a curfew and banned gatherings of five or more, though some of these measures were relaxed to allow people to gather in emergency shelters ahead of the storm.</p><p>Cyclone Harold has already proved deadly. On Friday, when it was just a Category 2 storm, it swept 27 people off a ferry in the Solomon Islands. Police said Sunday they had recovered the bodies of three women and two men, while 22 others remain missing.</p>
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A bushfire burns outside the Perth Cricket Stadium in Perth, Australia on Dec. 13, 2019. PETER PARKS / AFP via Getty Images
By Albert Van Dijk, Luigi Renzullo, Marta Yebra and Shoshana Rapley
2019 was the year Australians confronted the fact that a healthy environment is more than just a pretty waterfall in a national park; a nice extra we can do without. We do not survive without air to breathe, water to drink, soil to grow food and weather we can cope with.
<p>Every year, we collate a vast number of measurements on the state of our environment: weather, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">oceans</a>, fire, water, soils, vegetation, population pressure and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a>. The data is collected in many different ways: by satellites, field stations, surveys and so on.</p><p>We process this data into several indicators of environmental health at both national and regional levels.</p><p>The <a href="http://wenfo.org/ausenv/#/2018/Exposed_soil/Grid/Actual/States_and%20Territories/bar,options/-28.96/135.00/4/none/Roadmap/Opaque" target="_blank">report for 2019</a>, released Sunday, makes for grim reading. It reveals the worst environmental conditions in many decades, perhaps centuries, and confirms the devastating damage <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">global warming</a> and mismanagement are wreaking on our natural resources.</p><p>Immediate action is needed to put Australia's environment on a course to recovery.</p>
<h2>Environment Scores in the Red</h2><p>From the long list of environmental indicators we report on, we use seven to calculate an Environmental Condition Score (ECS) for each region, as well as nationally.</p><p>These seven indicators – high temperatures, river flows, wetlands, soil health, vegetation condition, growth conditions and tree cover – are chosen because they allow a comparison against previous years. In Australia's dry environment, they tend to move up and down together, which gives the score more robustness. See the <a href="http://wenfo.org/ausenv/#/2019/Environmental_Condition%20Score/Region/Actual/Local_Government%20Areas/bar,options/-28.96/135.00/4/none/Roadmap/Opaque" target="_blank">interactive graphic</a> below to find the score for your region.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkwMzk5MC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQwNzk1M30.IkyDdLm1_Fpnn50Ok-QL_vLrxX0EzZBRD3cqVJ5Cq-s/img.png?width=980" id="5c996" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c24126057fbfa67587df61475150932e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Environmental condition scores by local government area, and values for each of the seven indicators. See more data on www.ausenv.online.
<p>Nationally, Australia's environmental condition score fell by 2.3 points in 2019, to a very low 0.8 out of ten. This is the lowest score since at least 2000 – the start of the period for which we have detailed data.</p><p>Condition scores declined in every state and territory. The worst conditions were seen in the Northern Territory (0.2 points), New South Wales (0.3 points) and Western Australia (0.4 points), with the latter also recording the greatest decline from the previous year (-5.7 points).</p><p>What is most striking is that almost the entire nation suffered terrible environmental conditions in 2019. In each case, the changes can be traced back to dry, hot conditions. Only parts of Queensland escaped the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">drought</a>.</p><p>Comparing local government areas, the worst conditions occurred in Armidale and Gwydir in northern NSW. In contrast, Winton and Townsville in Queensland escaped the overall poor conditions, thanks to the beneficial impact of high rainfall early in the year – although those same events also caused <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding">floods</a> killing around 600,000 livestock.</p>
<h2>Extreme Drought and Extreme Heat</h2><p>So what exactly happened in Australia in 2019 to cause such widespread environmental damage? There were several causes.</p><p>Across most of Australia, the environment was already reeling <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-2018-environmental-scorecard-a-dreadful-year-that-demands-action-114760" target="_blank">from poor conditions in 2018</a>. Also, cool temperatures in the Indian Ocean delayed the onset of the monsoon in northern Australia and reduced the flow of moisture to the rest of the continent, creating hot and dry conditions. Average rainfall was a mere 229 mm across the continent, the lowest in more than 119 years and probably longer than that.</p><p>The heat was also extraordinary. The average number of days above 35°C across the country was 36% more than the average for the 19 years prior.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkwMzc0NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMzk5NDA0N30.qLZg3ddY7bSTd8MDSlbS2nllM69vAICE8VrWlta-xyQ/img.png?width=980" id="9f461" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cd196a1c269da7d42d028b580cb8ff47" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Values for 15 environmental indicators in 2015, expressed as the change from average 2000-2018 conditions. Similar to national economic indicators, they provide a summary but also hide regional variations, complex interactions and long-term context. ANU Centre for Water and Landscape Dynamics
<p>In eastern Australia, arid and hot conditions pushed farmers and ecosystems deeper into drought. In many regions, dryness and declining protection from wind erosion created the worst soil conditions in at least 20 years. Consequences included several dust storms and widespread dieback of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/forests">forests</a>, especially in NSW.</p><p>The severe drought also affected inland water systems, especially the Darling River and its tributaries. Town water supply reservoirs ran out of water, the rivers stopped flowing, and the heat turned the remaining pools into death traps for fish.</p><p>Other rivers in northwest Australia, southeast Queensland and northeast NSW also saw their worst flows in 20 years.</p>
<h3>Unprecedented Fires</h3><p>Of course, 2019 will be remembered as the year of unprecedented <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires">bushfires</a>. Nationally, the total area burnt was not unusual, not even when the fires of early 2020 are included. But this is only because fire activity was much below average in northern Australia, where ongoing dry conditions left little vegetation to burn.</p><p>The extent of forest fires last year was unprecedented, however. As <a href="https://www.bnhcrc.com.au/hazardnotes/63" target="_blank">predicted well in advance</a>, the tinder-dry forests in eastern Australia provided the fuel for a dramatic fire season that started in September. Between then and the first month of 2020, vast areas of forest in New South Wales, eastern Victoria, Kangaroo Island and the Australian Capital Territory went up in flames.</p><p>The fires destroyed more than 3,000 homes and directly killed 33 people. Indirectly, the most hazardous air quality in living memory created major but poorly known health impacts. The fires also damaged the reliability of <a href="https://theconversation.com/bushfires-threaten-drinking-water-safety-the-consequences-could-last-for-decades-129353" target="_blank">drinking water supplies</a>.</p><p>The ecological damage was also profound. Fires raged through ecosystems poorly adapted to fire, from rainforests in tropical Queensland to alpine vegetation in Tasmania and the Snowy Mountains of NSW. It remains to be seen whether they can recover. Across NSW, 35% of rainforests were turned to cinders.</p><p>About <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/bushfire-recovery/research-and-resources" target="_blank">191 species</a> of animals and plants saw more than one-third of their living area burnt, among them 52 species that were already threatened. Thankfully, the last remaining stands of the prehistoric Wollemi pine and the rare Nightcap Oak were saved.</p><p>Even before the fires, 40 plant and animal species were added to the threatened list in 2019, bringing the total to 1890. Following the fires, more species are likely to be added in 2020.</p>
<h3>We're Not Doomed Yet</h3><p>Last year was neither an outlier nor the "new normal" – it will get worse.</p><p>Greenhouse gas concentrations continued to increase rapidly in 2019, causing the temperature of the atmosphere and oceans to soar. Australia's population also continued to grow quickly and with it, greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution, and our demand for land to build, mine and farm on.</p><p>Whether we want to hear it or not, last year represented another step towards an ever-more dismal future, unless we take serious action.</p><p>The current coronavirus pandemic shows that as individuals, and collectively, we can take dramatic action once we acknowledge the urgency of a threat. By comparison, addressing environmental decline will cost less, whereas the long-term costs of not acting will be far greater.</p><p>There is much we can do. In the short term, we can help our natural ecosystems recover from the drought and fires. Government agencies and land owners can cull and manage invasive species in fire-affected areas – from weeds, to foxes, cats and feral horses – and stop damaging logging in fire-affected areas.</p><p>Individuals can do their bit. We can donate money or time to <a href="https://www.ecolsoc.org.au/news/2020/01/esa-bushfire-response" target="_blank">organizations committed to helping ecosystems recover</a>. <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/environment-recovery-project-australian-bushfires-2019-2020" target="_blank">Record what you see on bushwalks</a> to help environmental managers monitor and assist ecological recovery.</p><p>But the damage of climate change is not limited to natural environments. We must get serious about curbing greenhouse emissions. Humanity has the tools, technology and ingenuity to do it and Australia, one of the countries worst affected by climate change, should lead the world.</p><p>Beyond that, individuals can also make a contribution: recycle and reuse rather than buy new, choose low-emission and renewable energy technology and reduce waste – it can save money even now. Let governments and politicians hear your voice. Try to convince friends and family that things need to change.</p><p>In the long term, we must find a more balanced relationship with the natural world, understanding that our own survival will depend on it.</p><p><em>The full report and webinar are available <a href="http://www.ausenv.online/" target="_blank">here</a>.</em></p>
<p>
<em>Albert Van Dijk is a professor of water and landscape dynamics at the Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University.</em></p><p><em>Luigi Renzullo is a senior research fellow at Australian National University.<br/></em></p><p><em>Marta Yebra is a senior lecturer at Australian National University.<br/></em></p><p><em>Shoshana Rapley is a research assistant at Australian National University.</em></p><p>
<em>Disclosure statements: The Australia's Environment report is fully self-funded by ANU. Albert Van Dijk receives or has previously received funding from several government-funded agencies, grant schemes and programs.
</em></p><p><em>Luigi Renzullo receives receives or has previously received funding from several government-funded agencies, grant schemes and programs.
</em></p><p><em>Marta Yebra receives or has previously received funding from several government-funded agencies, grant schemes and programs.
</em></p><p><em>
Shoshana Rapley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond her academic appointment.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-major-scorecard-gives-the-health-of-australias-environment-less-than-1-out-of-10-133444" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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Women carrying fresh water pots walk on cracked land at a village near the Sundarban in Khulna, Bangladesh on Feb. 12, 2020. Rehman Asad / Barcroft Media via Getty Images
By Tharanga Gunawardena
Extreme climate events are increasingly threatening countries and livelihoods. Devastating natural disasters and unpredictable weather have made communities more vulnerable and impoverished, especially women. According to the United Nations, 80% of people displaced by climate change are women. But what makes them more susceptible to the effects of climate catastrophe?
<p>According to the World Bank, people in low-income communities suffer the most from these events, due to poverty, lack of resources and of awareness. Sudden climate catastrophes such as <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">floods</a>, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires" target="_self">wildfires</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" target="_self">droughts</a> displace people and affect their income.</p><p>Within these communities, cultural barriers, gender norms and lack of education leave women even further behind men. They are left to take care of families, work in farming for low wages, with little knowledge of survival skills (in 2004, for example, more women in Thailand died of the <a href="https://www.womenforwater.org/uploads/7/7/5/1/77516286/water__gender_p_brief_digital_version.pdf" target="_blank">tsunami</a> because they stayed back looking for their children and because culturally, they are not taught skills such as swimming, climbing trees, etc.).</p>
<p>Lack of education makes women more dependent on their families and communities, less employable, with little opportunity to move beyond where they are born. Therefore, when sudden climate disasters strike, they are more vulnerable. The responsibility of looking after children further jeopardizes them. Furthermore, climate emergencies are often followed by <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329484145_Health_impacts_of_climate_change_in_South_Asia" target="_blank">health risks in South Asian countries</a>, such as the spread of diseases like malaria, dengue, etc. It is the mothers who are hardest affected by these tragedies, often being unable to provide sufficient healthcare for their children.</p>
<p>At the same time, climate disasters affect agriculture in poorer areas, which directly impacts women. In <a href="https://www.oxfamindia.org/women-empowerment-india-farmers" target="_blank">India</a>, 80% of all economically active women are in the agriculture sector, comprising 33% of the total agriculture labor force and 48% of self-employed farmers. Many women in Africa walk miles in search of water; severe droughts worsened by the climate crisis mean that they have to travel further, risking their health and safety, and their children's. In <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43294221" target="_blank">Central Africa</a>, where up to 90% of Lake Chad has disappeared, nomadic indigenous groups are particularly at risk.</p>
<p>Men's stories are no less distressing. Unreliable rain patterns force them to work for longer hours, search for jobs beyond their communities, and lose income due to crop failures. However, this makes women work twice as hard to support their husbands to earn a living while looking after children. In developing countries, women are often given no education or independence and lack employment opportunities. As a result, they are under-represented in society. <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SG.GEN.PARL.ZS" target="_blank">Globally</a>, the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments is only 24% as of 2019. The UN Climate Change Conference COP24 in 2018 had only 38% representation of women, with only 1% increase from the previous year. These numbers demonstrate the lack of participation of women in key policy- and decision-making, limiting their ability to advocate for climate solutions. Two-fifths of countries worldwide limit women's <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/32639/9781464815324.pdf" target="_blank">property rights</a>; in 19 countries, women still do not have equal ownership rights to immovable property. Disregarding half of the world's population and their needs will not bring sustainable, inclusive or holistic climate-mitigation actions.</p>
<h3>Resilience Through Education</h3><p>Educating women about climate change and its impact will be pivotal to making them climate-resilient. In <a href="https://undp-adaptation.exposure.co/fighting-extreme-weather" target="_blank">Zambia</a>, 78% of small-scale farmers are women. Severe droughts and erratic weather patterns have cost the country more than $13.8 billion in crop failures. Lack of education and exposure make it difficult for women in Zambia to progress beyond traditional beliefs to understanding the reasons behind crop failure. To remedy this, they are being introduced to improved weather forecasting tools, knowledge and consultation on climate change, to prepare them better for the next farming seasons.</p>
<p>In Latin America, the World Food Programme is helping women in indigenous communities between Ecuador and Colombia adapt <a href="https://insight.wfp.org/latin-america-and-the-caribbean-a-laboratory-for-climate-action-6b1d05985546" target="_blank">climate-smart farming</a> by combining scientific knowledge with traditional local practices to promote climate-resilient activities, such as cocoa cultivation, to earn a living and increase food sufficiency within communities. In addition, climate-smart projects such as the <a href="https://unfccc.int/topics/gender/workstreams/the-enhanced-lima-work-programme-on-gender" target="_blank">Lima Work Programme on Gender</a> (LWPG) aim to advance equal participation of women, promote gender-responsive climate policy and mainstream gender in the UNFCCC process. </p><p>Involving women in key decision-making within communities and empowering them with skills improves their resilience and climate-adaptive action. In 2015, <a href="https://www.seacology.org/project/sri-lanka-mangrove-conservation-project/" target="_blank">Seacology</a>, in collaboration with a local NGO, conducted a mangrove conservation project in Sri Lanka, replanting 9,600 acres of mangrove forests that have been cut down. The project provided alternative job training and microloans to approximately 12,000 impoverished women in 1,500 small fishing communities, teaching them to be climate-smart and become ground-level leaders, fostering sustainable farming methods. In addition, <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/can-renewable-energy-give-climate-displaced-women-bangladesh-new-beginning" target="_blank">UNEP</a> surveyed 32 villages in six remote districts in Bangladesh and identified 11 occupations that could use solar energy, benefiting nearly 300 women directly. Access to clean energy helps women in impoverished communities work less in the fields and focus more on their families.</p><p>Including women in more decision-making positions, educating them with transversal skills and involving them in climate-resilient projects will not only empower women in disadvantaged communities, but promotes them as equal stakeholders in finding solutions to climate catastrophe.<br></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/women-climate-crisis-vulnerability-empowerment/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>.</em></p><div></div><div><span></span></div>From Your Site Articles
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Floodwater covers a street in Burlington, North Dakota on June 26, 2011. NOAA has forecast more flooding for the state this spring. Scott Olson / Getty Images
Another wet spring and floods are on the way, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Fortunately, the agency predicted Thursday that this year's flooding would not be nearly as bad as last year's, which inundated the Midwest and devastated crops.
<p>"Flooding continues to be a factor for many Americans this spring," with major to moderate flooding likely to occur in 23 states, said Mary C. Erickson, deputy director of the National Weather Service, in a call with reporters, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/climate/us-flood-season-forescast.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. She added the bright spot that the flooding will be less severe and shorter than last year's.</p>
<p>This year's floods are expected to affect parts of the Midwest, the Rust Belt and the Southeast all the way down to the Gulf Coast. NOAA predicted that the most significant flood potential will occur in the northern Plains and the upper Midwest of North and South Dakota, as well as Minnesota, as <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/19/spring-flood-forecast-floods-may-affect-128-million-23-states/2874960001/" target="_blank">USA Today</a> reported. Parts of Iowa and Illinois may also experience heavy flooding, according to <a href="https://weather.com/safety/floods/news/2020-03-19-spring-outlook-flooding-temperatures-united-states-noaa" target="_blank">The Weather Channel</a>.</p><p>NOAA expects about 128 million people, or one-third of the U.S. population, to see some sort of flooding this spring, with 1.2 million expected to experience "major" flooding in the aforementioned states, according to Ed Clark, the director of NOAA's National Water Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/19/spring-flood-forecast-floods-may-affect-128-million-23-states/2874960001/" target="_blank">USA Today</a> reported.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://weather.com/safety/floods/news/2020-03-19-spring-outlook-flooding-temperatures-united-states-noaa" target="_blank">The Weather Channel</a>, several factors went into NOAA's prediction, including ongoing rainfall, highly saturated soils and the increased likelihood of above-average precipitation this spring.</p><p>One factor contributing to the threat of flooding is that soil in many central and eastern states is already oversaturated and rivers are running high. That means that heavy rainfall can trigger flooding, according to <a href="https://weather.com/safety/floods/news/2020-03-19-spring-outlook-flooding-temperatures-united-states-noaa" target="_blank">The Weather Channel</a>.</p><p>"Nearly every day, dangerous flooding occurs somewhere in the United States, and widespread flooding is in the forecast for many states in the months ahead," said Clark.</p><p>Clark added that heavy rains will likely lead to a larger than usual dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico this summer. Dead zones are caused by hypoxia, where an area does not have enough oxygen to sustain life, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/climate/us-flood-season-forescast.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p>
<p>While farmers who were never able to plant their crops in 2019 because of flooding will not experience anything as drastic as last year, they should expect to see delays in planting, said Brad Rippey, the Department of Agriculture meteorologist, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/climate/us-flood-season-forescast.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>While a large swath of the lower 48 states should expect heavier than average rainfall, the same is true for Alaska. On the other hand, drought conditions are expected to continue and worsen in California, in parts of the Pacific Northwest, in the southern Rockies, and in parts of Southern Texas, according to NOAA, as the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/climate/us-flood-season-forescast.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>Not a single part of the country is expected to see below average temperatures this spring in a year that is shaping up to be one of the hottest years on record.</p><p>"There is almost no part of the country that we are predicting to be below normal in any of the three months, which is unusual," said AccuWeather founder and CEO Joel N. Myers, as <a href="https://weather.com/safety/floods/news/2020-03-19-spring-outlook-flooding-temperatures-united-states-noaa" target="_blank">The Weather Channel</a> reported. "This may be a first."</p>
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A girl makes a water run with empty buckets on May 17, 2017 in New Delhi, India. Shams Qari / Barcroft Media via Getty Images
Ever more of the world's population is living with water insecurity and is unable to consistently access safe, clean drinking water.
<p><br/></p>
<p>A number of factors, including <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a> and poor water management, are worsening water scarcity, which coupled with other social problems like rising inequality and ethnic tensions, are threatening conflict between states and within states.</p><p>Charles Iceland, director of global and national water initiatives at the <a href="https://www.waterpeacesecurity.org/map" target="_blank">World Resources Institute</a>, spoke to DW about disputes over the essential resource and how it can be avoided, as well as the new <a href="https://www.waterpeacesecurity.org/map" target="_blank">Water, Peace and Security (WPS)</a> tool that forecasts where water disputes are likely over the next 12 months, and how they might be avoided.<br></p>
<p><em>DW: What is a water conflict and what does it look like?</em></p><p>Charles Iceland: In many places throughout the world, there's just more and more demand for water with respect to what's available. Sometimes the conflicts are nonviolent — like in Australia or California where people go through the legal system or they work their issues out without violence. But in a lot of places, the problem is grave enough and the ability to resolve the problem is not well developed. So you can see the wrestling over these scarce resources develop in violent ways.</p>
<p><em>Where would you say are the regions and countries in which water, water scarcity, water quality are playing a role in conflict?</em></p><p>Populations are growing very quickly in sub-Saharan Africa — going up fourfold between 1960 and today. Resources have either stayed the same or you have a reduction in resources, because of climate change or because desertification is reducing arable land. So you have a lot of violent conflicts between these smallholder farmers and pastoralists wrestling over scarce land and water resources. We've seen over the past couple of years pastoralists massacring farming communities and retribution by farming communities.</p><p>We're also seeing a lot of violent conflict play out in the Middle East. So, for example, in Iraq, a lot of the demonstrations that led to the prime minister's resignation a few months ago. But part of the grievances entailed lack of services, which included lack of access to clean water and lack of access to electricity. They're getting sick. About a year and a half ago, 120,000 people in Basra had to be hospitalized because they were drinking contaminated water.</p><p>And it's [water scarcity] is also a problem in places like Iran, Afghanistan and India. So those are some of the hotspots.</p>
<p><em>So it could be an interstate conflict, but it could be intrastate as well between various stakeholders in society?</em></p><p>When you have violent conflict, it usually plays out at a subnational level. While you have international conflicts over water, those are rarely resolved through violence. So, for example, we have India and Pakistan wrestling over water in the Indus. We have Iraq and Turkey wrestling over water in the Tigris and Euphrates. We have Egypt and Ethiopia wrestling over water and in the Blue Nile Basin. The parties try as much as they can to resolve the issues in a nonviolent way through diplomacy.</p>
<p><em>Will we see a future of water wars and water as the new oil?</em></p><p>Both, like a lot of metaphors, are not really accurate. Wars are rarely fought over water as a single issue. Rather, we see the problem as a threat multiplier. So it's one issue in the background. If you have other issues leading to instability, maybe problems between ethnic groups or anything could trigger violence, the background of having water scarcity, has destabilized the society and made it less able to resolve problems amicably.</p>
<p><em>How much of a role does climate change play in water scarcity or water quality?</em></p><p>We have trouble attributing any particular <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">drought</a> or <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding">flood</a> to climate change, but we are seeing very dramatic increases in the incidence and severity of drought in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. So we're having a general decline in rainfall in some of these areas. In some of these areas the amount of rainfall stays the same but you have very large intermittent drought and flood periods. That's what's been predicted by climate change experts.</p>
<p><em>What other factors can lead to water scarcity?</em></p><p>The management of water resources is a critical factor. So people, in theory might have enough water in some places, but they're mismanaging it. They're losing water. They are polluting the water. And then there are upstream, downstream issues. There are many instances where the upstream users are accessing water, but downstream users suffer because they're getting less water.</p>
<p><em>What exactly is the Water Peace and Security tool?</em></p><p>We're a consortium of nine organizations in the U.S. and Europe that are working together to both try to identify hotspots of water insecurity and then try to help local people and the global community do something about this to either avoid conflict or minimize the impacts of conflict. So we've developed a machine learning-based model that tries to predict where conflict might break out in the next 12 months. We're using a number of factors — political, economic, social, demographic — that might point at imminent conflict. And to that group of indicators, we add water and food insecurity indicators. We try to identify these hotspots, whether they are water-related conflicts and what are the drivers of the conflict.</p>
<p><em>How can you resolve a water conflict?</em></p><p>There are lots of examples on the subnational and international levels where either global or national entities have brought competing [water] users together.</p><p>A very good example of this was in 1960 — the World Bank brought the governments of India and Pakistan together to develop a treaty that divided up the water in the Indus River Basin. That treaty has come under pressure recently but it's still been able to keep India and Pakistan from having problems boil over — at least to date.</p><p><em>Jennifer Collins conducted the interview, which has been shortened and edited for clarity.</em></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/tackling-the-growing-threat-of-water-conflict/a-52696755?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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Firefighters and search dogs look for victims of a landslide triggered by torrential rains in Barreira do Joao Guarda, a favela in Guaruja outside of Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 4, 2020. NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP via Getty Images
Brazil has faced a series of extreme weather events since the calendar flipped to 2020, with different states inundated with floods, torrential downpours, and mudslides that have killed 150 people in just a few months. Scientists say that the climate crisis is responsible, according to The Guardian.
<p>Data sent to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/13/climate-crisis-blamed-for-rains-and-floods-that-have-killed-150-in-brazil" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> showed an increase in extreme rainfall as the earth continues to heat up. Extreme rainfall events are when more than 80mm (approximately 3.1 inches) falls within 24 hours. Those remarkable events have increased in frequency over the past 30 years in the capitals of the southeastern states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte, where the deadly rains happened.</p>
<p>"When it is hotter, it rains more, and this gets worse if you have urban areas, areas of concrete and asphalt," said José Marengo from Brazil's National Center for Monitoring and Alerts of Natural Disasters, to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/13/climate-crisis-blamed-for-rains-and-floods-that-have-killed-150-in-brazil" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>Marengo is one of the authors of a study published last month in <a href="https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nyas.14307" target="_blank">Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences</a> that noted an uptick in extreme weather in southeastern Brazil. The paper also found that the region's dry season has extended from September into October, meaning the parched ground is more susceptible to flash flooding and mudslides.</p><p>"This, together with the inappropriate occupation of risky areas, such as slopes and banks of water-courses, leads to inundation, flooding and landslides," the <a href="https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/nyas.14307?referrer_access_token=7S1eYKsjBZ90ktINuKGH_4ta6bR2k8jH0KrdpFOxC64IvLByjOkcEUjjbVSWSoQ8ADiR_QQqgtw59IRjQYMyY0wtNQV2maPB9oVW3dTrtF0JdngQg2vDnUVZ9hJe19M46SwMYRqs35sr_z57BOlVdw%3D%3D" target="_blank">paper</a> said, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/13/climate-crisis-blamed-for-rains-and-floods-that-have-killed-150-in-brazil" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. "Changes in extremes can be partly due to natural climate variability but can also be related to global warming and/or urbanization."</p>
<p>The Belo Horizonte region experienced the worst rainfall it has seen in 100 years earlier this year, killing at least 53 people and forcing more than 2,600 people from their homes, according to <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/at-least-38-dead-after-record-breaking-rainfall-triggers-landslides-in-brazil/668897" target="_blank">AccuWeather</a>. In that storm, torrential rains pelted the region for 48 hours.</p><p>In those two days, more rain fell on the region than typically falls through the entire month of January, according to <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/at-least-38-dead-after-record-breaking-rainfall-triggers-landslides-in-brazil/668897" target="_blank">AccuWeather</a> meteorologist Maura Kelly.</p><p>Last week, at least 29 people died and two-dozen were missing after torrential rains triggered flash floods and landslides in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, according to <a href="https://www.spacedaily.com/afp/200305014721.lj25izaf.html" target="_blank">Space Daily</a>. In that storm, 282 millimeters, or just over 11 inches of rain, fell in just 12 hours in Guarujá, a coastal town just 25 miles from São Paulo. The rain that fell in that half of a day exceeded the average rainfall for the entire month of March.</p>
<p>The world's warming temperatures are causing more evaporation, which leads to an increase in the amount of water held in clouds that falls as precipitation. "We are seeing more and more extreme events happening in big and important cities," said Tercio Ambrizzi, a professor of climatology at the University of São Paulo, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/13/climate-crisis-blamed-for-rains-and-floods-that-have-killed-150-in-brazil" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. "There is a relationship with the increase in average global temperatures."</p><p>According to data from Brazil's National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet), one Rio de Janeiro weather station logged 134 extreme rainfalls from 1960 to 1990, and 221 from 1990 to 2020, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/13/climate-crisis-blamed-for-rains-and-floods-that-have-killed-150-in-brazil" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. A São Paulo weather station reported 15 from 1960 to 1990 and 44 since, nearly a threefold increase.</p>"There's clearly been an increase of extreme events in the south-east of Brazil," Ambrizzi said, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/13/climate-crisis-blamed-for-rains-and-floods-that-have-killed-150-in-brazil" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. Ambrizzi was also an author on the <a href="https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/nyas.14307?referrer_access_token=7S1eYKsjBZ90ktINuKGH_4ta6bR2k8jH0KrdpFOxC64IvLByjOkcEUjjbVSWSoQ8ADiR_QQqgtw59IRjQYMyY0wtNQV2maPB9oVW3dTrtF0JdngQg2vDnUVZ9hJe19M46SwMYRqs35sr_z57BOlVdw%3D%3D" target="_blank">paper</a> mentioned earlier.
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A sign posted at the Dixie Oil Processors Superfund site on September 4, 2017 in Friendswood, Texas after Hurricane Harvey. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
On Thursday, a federal district court required the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue long-overdue protections against worst-case scenario spills of hazardous materials, like in the case of extreme storms, fires, or flooding. The decision approved a negotiated consent decree between the EPA and a coalition of community and environmental organizations, including NRDC, the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA), and Clean Water Action.
"This is a victory for the millions of people who live in fear of experiencing catastrophic chemical spills in their own backyards," says Kaitlin Morrison, an NRDC attorney.
<p>The EPA had failed to issue the protections for nearly 30 years, despite Congress's 1990 amendments to the Clean Water Act mandating it to do so. The coalition <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/nrdc/nrdc-and-partners-sue-force-overdue-protections-against-chemical-spills" target="_blank">sued the agency</a> in March 2019 to force action. With today's legal victory, the agency must now issue proposed rules within two years and then finalize those rules two and a half years after that.</p><p>An estimated <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/06/climate/flood-toxic-chemicals.html" target="_blank">2,500 U.S. chemical facilities</a>, such as aboveground storage tanks holding hazardous substances, are subject only to worst-case spill-planning requirements at the state level—which, if they exist at all, are vulnerable to rollbacks. Fenceline communities—or communities living closest to chemical production and storage facilities—where most residents are low-income or people of color, are most at risk.</p><p>In 2017, that risk became abundantly clear when <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jon-devine/epa-ignores-lessons-chemical-spills-hurricane-harvey" target="_blank">Hurricane Harvey hit Houston</a>. The city's density of chemical facilities and susceptibility to flooding led to the release of harmful chemicals through numerous spills, leaks, and explosions—causing some first responders to be hospitalized.</p><p>"Fenceline communities know that it's not if, but when the next chemical leak, spill, or flooding event will happen, and the cumulative impacts of these tragic events are unjustly borne by people of color and low-income residents," says Michele Roberts, national co-coordinator of the EJHA. "It is way beyond time for EPA to exercise the moral and political courage to protect these overburdened communities from the daily assaults on their health and quality of life."</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/nrdc/court-requires-epa-protect-communities-against-worst-case-chemical-spills" target="_blank">NRDC</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Orlando Wetlands Park in central Florida. Bkamprath / iStock/ Getty Images Plus
By Kimberly M.S. Cartier
Mangrove forests, marshes and seagrass beds protect inland areas from storm surges and strong winds. Over long periods, coastal wetlands like these build up sediment that mitigates sea level rise and local land subsidence.
<p>A new analysis of property damage from Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastal storms has shown that counties with larger wetlands suffered lower property damage costs than did counties with smaller wetlands.</p><p>"Starting in 1996, the U.S. government started to produce damage estimates for each tropical cyclone in a consistent manner," explained coauthor <a href="https://econweb.ucsd.edu/~rcarson/" target="_blank">Richard Carson</a>, an economist at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in La Jolla. Before that, the data were collected only for hurricanes, which hindered <a href="http://www.robertcostanza.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2008_J_Costanza_HurricaneProtection.pdf" target="_blank">past attempts</a> to put a price on the marginal value, or price per unit, of wetlands, he said.</p><p>With the complete data set, the researchers examined all 88 tropical cyclones and hurricanes that affected the U.S. starting in 1996. That time period includes Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy.</p>
<h3>A Protective and Economic Boon</h3><p>In addition to property damage data for tropical cyclones of all strengths, "our data set has considerably more spatial resolution," Carson said, "which is a result of large amounts of information on storm tracks, property location, and wetland location all being digitized for use in a geographical information system basis."</p><p>First author <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/fanglin-sun-b34640123/" target="_blank">Fanglin Sun</a>, formerly at UCSD and now an economist at Amazon.com, added that "areas subject to flood risk in a county are more accurately estimated, based on local elevation data and detailed information on individual storm trajectories" and wind speeds throughout affected areas.</p><p>The finer level of detail for the storm data let the researchers finally begin connecting wetland coverage and storm damage on a county-by-county basis, Carson said. "A storm track moving a couple of kilometers one direction or the other allows the amount of wetland protection to vary within the same county."</p><p>In terms of property damage, Sun and Carson found that a square kilometer of wetlands saved an average of $1.8 million per year. Over the next 30 years, an average unit of wetlands could save $36 million in storm damage.</p><p>Some wetlands were valued at less than $800 per year per square kilometer and some at nearly $100 million. That marginal value depended on many factors, including a county's property values, existing wetland coverage, coastline shape, elevation, building codes, and chance of actually experiencing damaging winds. And each of those variables fluctuated over the 20 years the team studied.</p><p>Overall, the highest-valued wetlands were in urban counties with large populations and the lowest-valued were in rural areas with small populations. However, wetlands provided a greater relative savings against weaker cyclones and in counties with <a href="https://eos.org/articles/equity-concerns-raised-in-federal-flood-property-buyouts" target="_blank">less stringent building codes </a>— areas that might not expect or plan for a tropical storm.</p><p>The team found no significant difference in the marginal value of saltwater versus freshwater wetlands or mangroves versus marshes. "Forested wetlands tend to be better at reducing wind speed and marshes tend to be better at absorbing water," Carson said, "so the specific nature of the storm when it hits an area is likely to matter. [But] our results suggest that, on average, there is no difference."</p><p>The team <a href="http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1915169117" target="_blank">published</a> these results in <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America</em> on March 3.</p>
<h3>Wetlands at Risk</h3><p>Most areas that have experienced storm-related property damage in the past 20 years have also lost wetland coverage, the researchers found. They calculated that Floridians would have been spared $480 million in property damage from Hurricane Irma alone had the <a href="https://eos.org/articles/hurricanes-hit-puerto-ricos-mangroves-harder-than-floridas" target="_blank">state's wetland</a> coverage not shrunk by 2.8% in the decade prior.</p><p>Moreover, recent changes to the <a href="https://eos.org/opinions/new-clean-water-act-rule-leaves-u-s-waters-vulnerable" target="_blank">Clean Water Act</a> have made the remaining coastal wetlands more vulnerable.</p><p>"The federal government, with respect to the U.S. Clean Water Act, took the position that the previous wetland studies were not reliable enough for use in assessing the benefits and cost of protecting wetlands," Carson said.</p><p>"The value coastal wetlands provide for storm protection is substantial and should be taken into account as policy makers debate the Clean Water Act," Sun said. "It's also worth noting," she added, "that storm protection for property is just one of many <a href="https://eos.org/research-spotlights/coastal-wetlands-effectively-sequester-blue-carbon" target="_blank">ecological services</a> that wetlands provide. We hope our study will spur future research quantifying these other services as well."</p><p>With tropical storms and hurricanes expected to happen more often because of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a>, the team wrote, wetlands will be more economically valuable than ever.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/economic-value-wetlands/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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An iceberg melts off of Greenland. Danita Delimont / Getty Images
The polar ice caps are melting six times faster than they were in the 1990s, the most comprehensive look at the data to date has found.
<p>That data, compiled and analyzed by the <a href="http://imbie.org/" target="_blank">Ice Sheet Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise (IMBIE)</a>, puts the melting of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greenland" target="_self">Greenland</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antarctica" target="_self">Antarctica</a>'s ice sheets on track with the worst-case-scenario prediction from the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> (IPCC). If this trend continues, it could put 400 million people at risk from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">sea level rise</a> by 2100.</p><p>"That's not a good news story," professor Andrew Shepherd from the University of Leeds <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51846468" target="_blank">told BBC News</a>.</p><p>Shepherd helped lead an international team of 89 polar scientists who analyzed ice loss at both poles using 26 surveys and 11 satellite missions between 1992 and 2018, according to a <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4561/six-fold_increase_in_polar_ice_losses_since_the_1990s" target="_blank">University of Leeds press release</a>.</p><p>They found that Greenland and Antarctica together lost 6.4 trillion tonnes (approximately 7.1 trillion U.S. tons) of ice between 1992 and 2017, raising global sea levels by 17.8 millimeters (approximately .7 inches). Not only that, but the rate of loss accelerated. The ice sheets lost 81 billion tonnes (approximately 89 billion U.S. tons) a year in the 1990s and 475 billion tonnes (approximately 524 billion U.S. tons) a year in the 2010s. This means they are now contributing much more to sea level rise.</p>
<p>"Today, the ice sheets contribute about a third of all sea-level rise, whereas in the 1990s, their contribution was actually pretty small at about 5%. This has important implications for the future, for coastal flooding and erosion," Shepherd told BBC News.</p><p>The Antarctica figures were published in Nature in 2018, while the Greenland figures were published in Nature this week.</p><p>The two polar regions have responded slightly differently, according to the press release. Ice melt in Antarctica has contributed 40 percent of the combined total sea level rise and is driven by warm ocean water melting its glaciers. Ice melt in Greenland, which accounts for 60 percent of the sea level rise, is driven partly by ocean water but partly by warmer air temperatures melting the surface of its ice sheet.</p>
<p>In both cases, the extent of the ice loss is clear evidence of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>, research leader Erik Ivins of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/11/polar-ice-caps-melting-six-times-faster-than-in-1990s?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco&fbclid=IwAR3w692OeS1yczfedxzhxo_JzFQvO7m-yJZwgc5F9UpoxwG8xoCNVY1USRY" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>"The satellite measurements provide prima facie, rather irrefutable, evidence," he said.</p><p>The findings have serious consequences for the future. The IPCC most recently predicted sea levels would rise 53 centimeters (approximately 21 inches) by 2100, putting 360 million people at risk from coastal flooding every year. But, the new data puts sea levels on track to rise an additional 17 centimeters (approximately 6.7 inches). This would increase the number of people at risk from yearly coastal flooding by 2100 to 400 million.</p><p>"These are not unlikely events with small impacts; they are already underway and will be devastating for coastal communities," Shepherd said in the press release.</p><p>However, this future is not inevitable. While Shepherd told The Guardian that the ice caps would melt for another 30 years even if greenhouse gas emissions ceased today, there is still time to limit the amount of melting.</p><p>"We can offset some of that [sea level rise] if we stop heating the planet," he said.</p>
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Scientists involved in the World Meteorological Organization's report urged world leaders not to lose focus on the climate emergency. Cindy Mariela Lorenzo / World Meteorological Association
The United Nations released a sobering report Tuesday showing that the climate crisis is accelerating global hunger and wreaking havoc on land, sea and in the atmosphere, according to the UN's State of the Climate report.
<p>The report says that "the tell-tale physical signs of climate change" are everywhere, noting record breaking heat waves, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires">wildfires</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding">flooding</a>. It warned that more is certain to come, as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/un-climate-change-report-world-meteorological-organization/" target="_blank">CBS News</a> reported.</p><p>The report found that more than 820 million people suffered from hunger in 2018 – the highest number since 2010. Weather-related phenomena linked to the climate crisis suggest that number will move in the wrong direction, as <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/food-security">food shortages</a> start to mount, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/10/weather/climate-report-wmo-2019-wxc/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p>
<p>Scientists involved in the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/our-mandate/climate/wmo-statement-state-of-global-climate" target="_blank">report</a> said that the threat the world faces from the climate crisis is far greater than the danger of the coronavirus. They strongly encourage world leaders not to lose focus on the climate emergency, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/10/climate-emergency-global-action-way-off-track-says-un-head-coronavirus" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>The UN Secretary General António Guterres wrote the forward of the <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/our-mandate/climate/wmo-statement-state-of-global-climate" target="_blank">report</a> and said the world is currently "way off track meeting either the 1.5°C or 2°C targets that the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement" target="_blank">Paris agreement</a> calls for," according to <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/03/1059061" target="_blank">UN News</a>. Guterres also called the climate crisis the "the defining challenge of our time," and said, "time is fast running out for us to avert the worst impacts of climate disruption," as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/un-climate-change-report-world-meteorological-organization/" target="_blank">CBS News</a> reported.</p>
<p>The comprehensive report led by the WMO, a branch of the United Nations, included input from a broad range of UN agencies, including those for environment, food, health, disasters, migration and refugees, as well as scientific centers, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/10/climate-emergency-global-action-way-off-track-says-un-head-coronavirus" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>The report found that 2019 was the second hottest ever on record, following 2016. However, 2016's temperatures were inflated by a strong, natural El Niño weather system, which 2019 did not have. The WMO scientists found that 84 percent of the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">oceans</a> experienced one or more marine heatwaves, and, for the 32nd year in a row, more glacial ice was lost than gained, which pushed <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise">sea levels</a> up to record levels, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/10/climate-emergency-global-action-way-off-track-says-un-head-coronavirus" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>"Given that greenhouse gas levels continue to increase, the warming will continue," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas, as <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/03/1059061" target="_blank">UN News</a> reported. "A recent decadal forecast indicates that a new annual global temperature record is likely in the next five years. It is a matter of time."</p><p>"We just had the warmest January on record," said Taalas in a <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/multi-agency-report-highlights-increasing-signs-and-impacts-of-climate-change" target="_blank">WMO statement</a>. "Winter was unseasonably mild in many parts of the northern hemisphere. Smoke and pollutants from damaging fires in Australia circumnavigated the globe, causing a spike in CO2 emissions. Reported record temperatures in Antarctica were accompanied by large-scale ice melt and the fracturing of a glacier which will have repercussions for sea level rise."</p><p>The continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions coupled with wildfires in Australia, Siberia and the Amazon pushed carbon dioxide levels 40 percent higher than pre-industrial levels to its highest level in 3 million years, as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/carbon-dioxide-levels-atmosphere-2645274429.html">EcoWatch</a> noted. More than 90 percent of the heat from that excess carbon dioxide is trapped in the oceans, contributing to a spate of marine heatwaves, as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/un-climate-change-report-world-meteorological-organization/" target="_blank">CBS News</a> reported.</p>
<p>The climate emergency has also led to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather">extreme weather</a> that has caused severe <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">droughts</a> in Australia and Africa, which is experiencing food shortages. Furthermore, the strange weather of drought followed by heavy rainfall in the Horn of Africa has spurred a severe locust invasion, which will threaten food security there, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/10/weather/climate-report-wmo-2019-wxc/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>"This report is a catalogue of weather in 2019 made more extreme by climate change, and the human misery that went with it," according to Brian Hoskins, chair of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College in London and not associated with the WMO State of the Climate, who spoke to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/10/weather/climate-report-wmo-2019-wxc/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>"It points to a threat that is greater to our species than any known virus – we must not be diverted from the urgency of tackling it by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions to zero as soon as possible."</p>
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