Boris Johnson and Sir David Attenborough have both warned world leaders that climate breakdown represents the single gravest threat to global security, as the UK Prime Minister today chaired the first ever UN Security Council meeting focused on the climate change. Marking the first time a UK PM has chaired the UN Security Council in around three decades, the virtual session saw Johnson urge nations to take urgent action to address the climate crisis or risk worsening conflict, displacement and insecurity.
Business Green 23rd Feb 2021 read more »
The climate crisis presents the “biggest threat to security that modern humans have ever faced”, Sir David Attenborough told a UN meeting held today. Speaking at the first UN Security Council meeting on climate and security, Sir David said that the world had “left the stable and secure climatic period that gave birth to our civilisation”.
Independent 23rd Feb 2021 read more »
Climate change will bring “huddled masses” of climate refugees to the borders of richer nations unless the world takes action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday. Mr Johnson said climate change posed a grave threat to international peace and security. Urgent action was required to guarantee global security in the years to come, he stressed. The Prime Minister was chairing a meeting of the UN Security Council convened to focus on climate change and security. It is the first time a British leader has chaired the Security Council since 1992.
iNews 23rd Feb 2021 read more »
The climate emergency is already hitting “worst case scenario” levels that if left unchecked will lead to the collapse of ecosystems, with dire consequences for humanity, according to the chief executive of the Environment Agency. Warning that this is not “science fiction”, Sir James Bevan said on Tuesday that in recent years several of the “reasonable worst case scenarios” had happened in the UK, with more extreme weather and flooding. And he urged politicians to take action to reduce emissions and adapt to the “inevitable” impacts of the climate emergency.
Guardian 23rd Feb 2021 read more »
Climate change is profoundly altering our oceans and marine ecosystems. Some of these changes are happening quickly and are potentially irreversible. Many are taking place silently and unnoticed. In recent years, tipping points – thresholds where a small change could push a system into a completely new state – have increasingly become a focus for the climate research community. However, these are typically thought of in terms of unlikely changes with huge global ramifications – often referred to as “low probability, high impact” events. Examples include the slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and the rapid disintegration of the West Antarctic ice sheet. In a new paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, my co-authors and I instead focus on the potential for what we call “high probability, high impact” tipping points caused by the cumulative impact of warming, acidification and deoxygenation.
Carbon Brief 23rd Feb 2021 read more »