Tag: global warming

The United Nations launched their UN Climate Change Annual report that reflects the key achievements of the UNFCCC process and the activities of the secretariat, particularly their impact in relation to the implementation of the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, while it also presents the outcomes of COP 24 and a look ahead.

Emerging trends in maritime industry include not only a shift towards technology and innovation, but also a constant need to adapt to a number of key environmental issues that seem to redifine how shipping does business. In this regard, IMarEST published an informative infographic, summarizing the key environmental trends for shipping.

As CBC Canada reports, dozens of grey whales have been found dead along the West Coast in recent weeks, while some scientists believe the cause lies in the heated-up Arctic waters off Alaska. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 58 grey whales have been found dead so far for 2019, in sites stretching from California to Alaska

In a new study, the UK Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling informed that it has tracked changes in snow and ice cover across the Antarctic. Namely, the continent's ice sheet has thinned by up to 122 metres in places. Lead author and CPOM Director Professor Andy Shepherd, said that ice losses from East and West Antarctica have contributed 4.6 mm to global sea level rise since 1992.

According to Reuters, the US refused to sign an agreement in the Arctic due to discrepancies over climate change wording, risking the cooperation in the polar region at the sharp edge of global warming. The meeting between eight nations in Finland's Rovaniemi on Tuesday, May 7, was aiming to provide a two-year agenda to balance the challenge of global warming, with sustainable development of mineral wealth.

International climate leader Christiana Figueres, recognized as the architect of the Paris Climate Agreement, delivers the 2019 Peter M. Wege Lecture on Sustainability, addressing efforts to stem the increase in global temperature. Talking about climate change, Ms. Figueres noted that we should focus on how we can move faster in order to protect our climate, instead of asking if we are moving in the right direction.

This winter was the wettest on record for the US, especially after a steady march of snow and rain storms across the country between December 2018 and the end of February 2019, according to data provided by US NOAA. The wet weather last month also made February 2019 the second wettest February on record.  

A white paper published by the EU-PolarNet touches upon some of the most pressing issues that the Polar Regions face nowadays. There regions are the fastest warming areas on Earth and their natural physical processes impact climate conditions and affect lives and livelihoods across the world. If these processes are changed due to global warming, they could lead to changes across the planet with unknown impacts.

Arctic’s icecap is shrinking 12% faster than it was a decade ago, and nearly all of its older and thicker ice is already gone. Nick Hughes, who leads the Norwegian Ice Service addressed the possibility that in 2045 all vessels might be able to sail straight over the top of the world.

According to a new MIT study, climate change is causing significant changes to phytoplankton in the world’s oceans, and over the coming decades these changes will affect the ocean’s colour, intensifying its blue regions and its green ones. The researchers found that, by the year 2100, more than 50% of the world’s oceans will change in colour, because of climate change.