My name is Helen O’Keeffe and I work for EZ Living Interiors – a home furnishings retailer based in Ireland and the UK. I enjoy...
Archive for category: climate change
The Grapes of Wrath: Global Warming and Wine
By MIRIAM ACZEL The global wine industry is not a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions—accounting for roughly 0.1% of global carbon emissions—but it is particularly vulnerable to...
Demystifying Impact Investment
By MIRIAM ACZEL Last month, I represented Leaders in Energy at the 2018 Youth Global Forum in Paris. The Youth Global Forum brought together over 100 participants, experts,...
Climate Change and Canada’s Carbon Tax: A Necessary Step
By BROOKE NEPO The most recent UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report highlights the future consequences of a warming planet if fundamental change is not...
Is Climate Change a Security Issue?
There is a significant yet still under-researched connection between climate change and security-related risks. The frequency of extreme weather events, including flooding, severe droughts and other associated impacts of global warming are contributing to the reduction of crop yields, diminishing water resources, and ultimately impacting human livelihood. In some cases, these events have contributed to the migration of ‘climate refugees’ in order to meet their basic human needs, including access to water, food, electricity, and shelter. As a result, climate change is increasingly entering the policy arena as a significant security issue.
Making Food Production and Land Use More Sustainable Could Yield $2.3 Trillion in Economic Benefits
There’s a “forgotten solution” for achieving major economic, development and climate gains—transforming the way the world feeds itself and manages its land.
At this week’s UN General Assembly, members of the Food and Land Use Coalition will meet with heads of state and CEOs to raise the profile of this issue and encourage greater action. They have new research to support their case. The food and land use chapter of the New Climate Economy’s Global Opportunities Report sets out how decisive action on food and land use is at the heart of the inclusive growth story of the 21st century. The report finds that more sustainable food and land use business models could be worth up to $2.3 trillion, and that they’re critical to delivering a more climate-secure and resilient world.
Recent Scientific Advancements Show New Connections Between Climate Change and Hurricanes
With Hurricane Florence making landfall in the Carolinas, Super Typhoon Mangkhut headed for the Philippines, and Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria fresh in our minds, many are asking what role climate change is playing in these disasters.
Scientists have known for years that global warming can exacerbate storms. But our understanding of the connection between hurricanes and climate change has evolved significantly in just the past year.
French Environment Minister’s Resignation: A Frustrated Call for Climate Action
On Tuesday, August 28, French environment minister Nicolas Hulot announced he was quitting Emmanuel Macron’s government—on live radio. During his interview with France Inter, a frustrated Hulot explained, “I don’t want to give the illusion that my presence in government means we’re answering these issues properly—and so I have decided to leave the government.”
Hulot, Macron’s most popular cabinet minister and former television presenter and environmental activist, said that his decision was “the most difficult decision of my life,” and was made on the spot—neither Macron nor Hulot’s wife were aware that he was going to resign.
Could climate change make mosquitoes worse in Virginia? The answer is more complicated than you might think.
All over the state, Virginia residents have been quick to condemn this year’s especially wet summer. But those torrential downpours might be why you have fewer mosquito bites on your arm. As the climate grows steadily warmer, the risk of increased illness from heat-loving insects like mosquitoes grows with it. The research group Climate Central released a report earlier this month detailing how so-called mosquito disease danger days are rising. There are more days in spring, summer and fall with an average temperature between 61 and 93 degrees, the prime temperature for mosquitoes to spread diseases like West Nile virus.
China’s Gas Shortage
Recent strategies and policies to phase out coal in China have led to an increase in demand for natural gas. In October 2017, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection unveiled plans to cut harmful air pollution, especially the particularly damaging fine particulate matter known as PM2.5. The plan, or “Coal Ban,” has set strict targets on air quality levels in addition to a ban on burning coal in 28 of its northern cities, including Beijing. However, while the air quality improved significantly in Beijing this past winter, the rapid ban on coal burning and the transition to natural gas has left thousands without heat.