LITTLE TO NOTHING

Climate change: What are the big polluters doing to cut carbon emissions?

By Reality Check team
BBC News

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Just four countries plus the European Union are responsible for most of the world's emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is the most common greenhouse gas responsible for global warming.

All five signed up to the Paris agreement in 2015 to cut emissions to limit global temperature rises.

What steps have they taken since?

China: The world's biggest emitter

• Says carbon emissions will peak in 2030
• Aiming for 25% of energy from non-fossil fuels by 2030
• Promises to be carbon neutral by 2060

Carbon neutrality refers to the balancing of overall carbon emissions with measures to absorb it from the atmosphere such as the planting of trees.

China is the largest producer of CO2, responsible for quarter of all global emissions. And its carbon emissions are still rising, largely because of a reliance on coal.

Last month, President Xi Jinping announced it would stop funding new coal-fired projects overseas.

But at home, coal mines have been ordered to ramp up production to meet surging energy demand, although Beijing has promised to cut back on coal use from 2026.

China has made progress on renewable energy - it now accounts for more than a third of all global solar power and is the world's biggest producer of wind energy.

But the country needs to cut demand for coal by more than 80% by 2060 to meet its climate goals, according to the International Energy Agency.

Climate Action Tracker, meanwhile, says China's policies and actions are "insufficient" - and if every country followed the same path it would lead to a global temperature rise of 3C.

US: The most emissions per person

• Will cut CO2 by at least 50% of 2005 level by 2030
• Wants half of new vehicles to be electric by 2030
• Promises to be carbon neutral by 2050

More than 80% of US energy comes from fossil fuels, although renewable energy sources are on the increase.

President Joe Biden's environmental plan looks to expand green energy further, with a $150bn (£100bn) clean-electricity programme to reward utility companies switching from fossil fuels.

But it has faced opposition from some US lawmakers concerned about the impact on the coal and fracking industry.

CO2 emissions have been dropping over the past decade.

But Climate Action Tracker says US actions and policies are "insufficient", needing "substantial improvement" to meet the Paris Agreement goal of keeping to a 1.5C increase in global warming.

The European Union: Emissions falling

• Promises a 55% emissions cut from the 1990 level by 2030
• Aiming for 40% of energy from renewables by 2030
• Will be carbon neutral by 2050

The top CO2 emitters in the EU are Germany, Italy and Poland.

And while it has overall emissions targets, EU states have differing financial and technical capabilities.

But all member countries need to agree how they reach the bloc's targets, as the EU negotiates as a single entity when it comes to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (Cop26).

Climate Action Tracker says its policies and actions are "almost sufficient" to keep the global temperature rise to less than 2C, noting emissions have been falling since 2018.

India: Reliant on coal

• Aiming for a 33-35% reduction in 'emissions intensity' by 2030
• Promises 40% of electricity capacity from non-fossil fuels by 2030
• Has not set a date for carbon neutrality

India's annual CO2 emissions have risen steadily in the past two decades - but it produces the lowest emissions per person among the top five.

India has argued the wealthier, more industrialised nations should bear more of the burden, as they have contributed far more to global warming over time.

And it has a target for "emissions intensity" - CO2 per unit of economic growth - saying this is a fairer way to compare with other countries.

India has also promised a significant increase in energy production from non-fossil fuel sources such as wind, solar and hydro power - and in 2019, this had reached 23%.

But about 70% of India's electricity grid is powered by coal.

And Climate Action Tracker says the country needs to phase out coal power generation before 2040 and boost its target for energy derived from non-fossil fuels.

Russia: Economy driven by oil and gas

• Will cut emissions by 30% from 1990 levels by 2030
• Promises to be carbon neutral by 2060

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 1991, Russia's economy - and its carbon emissions - shrank anyway.

But Russia is still relying on its extensive forests and swamps to absorb carbon.

Wind, solar and hydro power and other non-fossil fuels make up a small proportion of its total energy mix.

And fossil fuels contribute more than 20% of gross domestic product (GDP), the total value of goods and services produced in Russia.

Climate Action Tracker says the country's policies and actions are "highly insufficient" to limit global warming to 1.5C.

Reporting and research by Jake Horton, Shruti Menon, Daniele Palumbo and Kai Wang

World will face climate change even after reaching carbon neutrality goals — Rosneft CEO

Igor Sechin stressed that the Earth's climate had never been static

Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

VERONA, October 28. /TASS/. The world will face climate change even if it reaches carbon neutrality goals by 2050, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin during the Eurasian Economic Forum.

"The Earth's climate has never been static, and even after reaching the carbon-neutral goals by 2050, humanity will still face climate changes," he said.

At the same time, he noted that energy transition is possible only if the stability of energy supplies and the development of new technologies are maintained. "The development of new materials is no longer an energy issue, but a much more serious issue of changing the structure of the economy. Despite the variety of plans to reach carbon neutrality, the energy transition will remain a pipe dream without developing new technologies and materials. Even in the long term renewable energy will not be able to completely replace traditional energy resources," he said.

Supporters of complete refusal to invest in the oil and gas sector ignore the risks of market imbalance, Sechin added. "This year has clearly shown that wrong decisions in the field of climate policy can lead to serious negative consequences for the entire global economy and society," he said.

Sechin believes that the climate agenda puts pressure on oil and gas prices, and not the OPEC+ policy. "Pressure from climate activists stops the implementation of joint projects with international companies, which forces majors to cut investments in oil and gas production, redirecting funds to renewable energy. It is the climate agenda that is now putting pressure on the global oil and gas market," he said.

Meanwhile, the gas crisis may cause additional demand for oil in the amount of 1 mln barrels per day, which could further increase oil prices, he noted. "According to Citi and Goldman Sachs, ultra-high prices for natural gas could create additional demand for oil in the amount of up to 1 mln barrels per day, which will increase imbalance similar to gas, and will further increase oil prices," Sechin explained.

According to Rosneft CEO, a variety of factors caused the gas crisis in Europe, but Russia is only helping resolve it. "The gas crisis did not occur for any one reason, but because of a variety of factors that had a simultaneous impact. Russia, for its part, helps resolve the crisis as much as possible, ensuring the stability of gas supplies to Europe. At the same time, our country always fully complies with all its contractual obligations," he said.

TRANSFORMING SOCIETY
Gen Z activists fuel Climate Express to Glasgow

Vum AFP|Update: 01.11.2021

Passengers chat in a special Climate Summit train bound for the COP26 UN climate meet in Glasgow / © ANP/AFP/File

One car was themed 'climate reality,' another 'transforming society' and a third 'stop talking and start doing' -- welcome to the Glasgow-bound Rail to the COP.

With more than 400 young climate warriors on board, many in their mid-to-late teens, the 10-hour trip from Amsterdam with changeovers in Brussels and London was shot through with camaraderie, determination and anger.

One thing these young activists did not bring on board was the illusion that the 13-day UN summit starting Sunday would by itself beat back what they called the existential threat of global warming.


"Politicians won't achieve the Paris Agreement goals, they won't keep the temperature under 1.5 degrees Celsius," said Johnny Dabrowski, an 18-year old high school senior from Warsaw, referring to the cornerstone target in the 2015 treaty signed by nearly every country on the planet.

But rather than simply joining the Fridays for Future student strikes launched by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, Dabrowski has put climate action at the centre of plans for his own future.

He has enrolled to become an environmental engineer to compensate for the failure of the world's major economies to slash greenhouse gases.

"We have to take carbon out of the atmosphere, it's simply a fact," he said with a poise beyond his years.

Elin Wilhelmsson has already dedicated her career to the environment.

Describing herself a Nature buff from the time she could walk, the 24-year-old is today a waste management engineer in the Swedish city of Aneby.

"I want what I do professionally to matter," she said, peering over the edge of a snug-fitting face mask.

- 'Panicky' -

Wilhelmsson was leading a small delegation of Swedish scouts, some with jackets adorned with merit badges and all wearing the signature striped scarf.

She has a coveted "observer" status at the UN negotiations and she said she would play a watchdog role as best she can.

The Rail to the COP journey, spearheaded by the non-profit Youth for Sustainable Travel, was also meant to send a message -- highlighting the low-carbon virtues of train travel.

At the station in Brussels, Eurostar Director General Jacques Dumas said that, on average, taking the train emits ten times less CO2 than flying.

Vinne Luyt, a 22-year old volunteer with Oxfam and a student in international relations from Ghent, Belgium, wanted to go to the COP26 talks in Glasgow in support of people from the Global South who could not attend for lack of a vaccine.

"A lot of young people would have come," said Luyt, who had become friends online with three activists in Indonesia, India and Colombia.

"They are getting panicky about the impact of climate change on their daily lives," he said.

 NOT THIS YEARS CLASS FOR HOGWARTS

Rail passengers leave the special Climate Summit train in London to take a second train to Glasgow for the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference / © ANP/AFP/File

Just over one degree of warming compared to preindustrial levels has been enough to unleash a deadly cascade of storms, wildfires and flooding, with far worse on the horizon, scientists say.

The more than 20 cars on the climate express were also crawling with journalists, including those from a new generation of news media run by young people for young people.

-It's all about networking -

Lucas Wicky and Florian Thomas, both in their early 20s, recorded testimonials of activists for Brut, a video-only platform that lives on, and through, social media.

"We do storytelling for young people," explained Thomas.

Some videos posted by Brut, which has editions in half-a-dozen countries, have scored more than 10 million views.

About half-way on the leg from London to Glasgow, the voice of a crew member from Avanti West Coast Trains pierced the bustle of animated conversation.

"My name is Fatin Abdalla, and I am so excited to be on this train," she said over the speakers.

Abdalla, originally from Sudan, it turned out, had gone to landmark Paris climate talks in 2018 as a youth delegate for an NGO, and the experience left a huge impression.

While working in Avanti's sustainability department, she is completing a PhD in mechanical engineering to develop ways to store heat generated by solar panels that can be used in developing countries -- like her own -- where most people don't have electricity.

For many on board, the trip to Paris was more to meet other young activists than diving into the details of the highly technical UN talk.

"It's all about networking," said one young woman to a new-found friend.

"Yes I've had so many good conversations," the other agreed

Sea level is already guaranteed to rise by 5 feet, climate scientist says

David Knowles

·Senior Editor

Sun, October 31, 2021, 

Based on the amount of greenhouse gases humans have already added to the Earth’s atmosphere, the world is guaranteed to experience approximately 5 feet of sea level rise in the coming decades, climate scientist Benjamin Strauss told “The Climate Crisis Podcast.” 

“It’s in that range, you know, 5 feet plus or minus. And that’s because we’ve already warmed the planet by around 2 degrees Fahrenheit, 1.1 Celsius,” Strauss, the president and CEO of Climate Central, a nonprofit that tries to educate policymakers and the public about the threats posed by climate change, told Yahoo News. “Think of it this way: If I dumped a truckload of ice in the middle of Phoenix, we’d all know it’s going to melt. But it takes time to melt. And the same thing is true for the big ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica and glaciers around the world. We turned up the thermostat. We’ve already heated the planet by a couple degrees, but they’ve only begun to respond by melting. And that’s why we have all this extra sea level in the pipeline and it’s, it’s enough, I’m afraid to say, it’s hard to imagine the long-term future of South Florida, let’s say, right, with the sea level that’s already in the pipeline.”

A woman stands off Bikeman islet in the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in 2013. (David Gray/Reuters)

Strauss, who has testified before Congress on the number of American houses that will be threatened due to sea level rise caused by climate change, noted that current estimates are that seas will rise by 2 to 3 feet by the end of the century and will continue rising in the decades that follow. Yet the fact that roughly 5 feet of sea level rise has already been baked in to the planet’s future is, for Strauss, even more incentive for the world to come together to prevent that figure from creeping even higher. 

“I think we can help ourselves a lot by slowing down these changes,” he said. 

G20 leaders talk up climate action but avoid real commitments, casting a shadow over crucial Glasgow talks

October 31, 2021 

The G20 summit in Rome concluded over the weekend with a disappointing outcome for Earth’s climate.

Leaders of the world’s wealthiest countries, including Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison, failed to reach a commitment to phase out fossil fuels. And the meeting’s final communique did not include a commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

G20 leaders made significant strides to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, especially on global vaccine targets. They also struck an agreement that will mean profits of large multinational companies pay more tax.

But breakthrough leadership on climate change was missing. This outcome does not bode well for the Glasgow talks – the world’s last hope for keeping the 1.5℃ global warming limit within reach.

G20 leaders, including Australia’s Scott Morrison and the UK’s Boris Johnson, failed to reach a commitment to phase out fossil fuels. AP

No timeline for coal exit

The G20 meeting was seen as a crucial precursor to the COP26 negotiations. But while world leaders agreed substantial action was needed to stay within 1.5℃ of global warming, they made few real commitments to meeting that target.

Going into the G20, Morrison was under pressure, after US President Joe Biden on Saturday described Australia’s handling of the cancelled French submarine deal as “clumsy”. And in the months leading to the talks, both the US and United Kingdom had called on Australia to up its climate ambition.

Days before leaving to attend the summit, Morrison struck a deal with the Nationals for Australia to adopt a target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Rome talks, however, failed to set a concrete 2050 target for all G20 nations – instead underlining the importance of reaching the target by or around the middle of the century. This phrasing meets the positions of China and Saudi Arabia, which don’t plan to reach net zero until 2060.

Read more: Scott Morrison attends pivotal global climate talks today, bringing a weak plan that leaves Australia exposed

China has pledged to reach net-zero emissions until 2060. Shutterstock

Morrison’s commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 was welcomed by some, and scrutinised by others, particularly for lack of detail.

UK Climate Change Committee chair John Gummer said international pressure “squeezed out” a net-zero pledge from Morrison, and the plan lacked the action necessary to meet the target.

Major global news outlets have labelled Morrison’s plan “hollow” and “hard to believe”. CNN called Australia “the rich world’s weakest link at COP26”.

In his closing statement at the G20, Morrison talked up the nation’s record on emissions reduction and sought to justify his government’s “technology not taxes” approach to climate action.

He promoted the case for emerging technologies, saying many existed now. He conceded some technologies were not yet invented, but likened the challenge to development of the COVID-19 vaccine which “didn’t exist two years ago”.

Morrison’s focus on technology appeared to resonate. G20 leaders agreed to “cooperate on the deployment and dissemination of zero or low carbon emission and renewable technologies, including sustainable bioenergy, to enable a transition towards low-emission power systems”.

Read more: If all 2030 climate targets are met, the planet will heat by 2.7℃ this century. That's not OK

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres had called on G20 leaders to strike a deal on coal, saying wealthy countries should phase out coal-fired power by 2030 while developing nations should do so by 2040.

But he was left disappointed. The G20’s final communique failed to put a timeline on the phase-out, instead saying it should be done “as soon as possible”.

Unsurprisingly, Australia pushed back on coal phase-outs, alongside India and China.

However, small steps towards phasing out coal were achieved. Leaders accepted the G7 position to end international public finance for “new unabated coal power generation abroad by the end of 2021”. But this commitment does not address existing coal plants, and it means coal can still be burned with carbon capture and storage technology.




Now to COP26

Australia’s overall contribution to the G20 was low-key. In a defiant statement about climate policy issued last week, Morrison declared the nation “won’t be lectured by others who do not understand Australia”. On this, Morrison may regard the G20 as a success, for it required few concessions to Australia’s position on climate.

Morrison enjoyed some positive moments at the G20, including a bilateral meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo. This resulted in a joint statement on cooperation on the green economy and energy transition – an important move that advances the bilateral relationship while recognising the significance of Indonesia’s forthcoming G20 presidency.

But that high note was overshadowed when French President Emmanuel Macron claimed Morrison lied to him about cancelling the major French submarine contract.

The comments deepen the rift between Australia and France. Heading into COP26, this could cause Australia issues with coalitions such as the G7, the OECD and the European Union, where France is a major player.

Of course, there’s still room for diplomatic pressure and progress on climate action in Glasgow.

There, attention will turn towards national pledges for emissions reduction by 2030 and the action required to meet them. Australia’s 2030 target lags almost all developed countries, and we are one of very few rich nations not to ramp up its 2030 target since the Paris Agreement six years ago.

Macron has declared “2030 is the new 2050”. On that score, Australia is likely to feel the heat.

Read more: Glasgow COP26: climate finance pledges from rich nations are inadequate and time is running out

Authors

Caitlin Byrne
Director, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University

Disclosure statement
Caitlin Byrne receives funding from the Australia Indonesia Institute.

Susan Harris Rimmer
Professor and Director of the Policy Innovation Hub, Griffith Business School, Griffith University

Disclosure statement
Susan Harris Rimmer receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
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G20 disappoints on key climate target as eyes turn to Glasgow

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
31 October, 2021
The G20 major economies committed on Sunday to the key goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but some disappointed leaders warned more was needed to make a success of UN climate talks beginning in Glasgow.


The G20 nations between them emit nearly 80 percent of carbon emissions (Getty)

The G20 major economies committed on Sunday to the key goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but some disappointed leaders warned more was needed to make a success of UN climate talks beginning in Glasgow.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the host of the COP26 summit that opened on Sunday, said the pledge from world leaders after two days of talks in Rome was "not enough", and warned of the dire consequences for the planet.

"If Glasgow fails, the whole thing fails," he told reporters, saying the G20 commitments were "drops in a rapidly warming ocean".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he left Rome "with my hopes unfulfilled - but at least they are not buried".

The G20 nations between them emit nearly 80 percent of carbon emissions, and a firm commitment on action was viewed as vital for the success of the UN's COP26.

US President Joe Biden said the summit made "tangible" progress on many issues but said he found it "disappointing" that Russia and China, whose leaders attended only via videolink, did not offer stronger climate pledges.

He vowed to "continue to focus on what China is not doing, what Russia is not doing, and what Saudi Arabia is not doing."

Meaningful actions

In a final communique, the G20 reaffirmed its support for the goals in the landmark 2015 Paris climate accords, to keep "the global average temperature increase well below 2 degrees and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels".

They said this would require "meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries, taking into account different approaches", while they also promised measures against coal use.

But experts say meeting the 1.5 degree target means slashing global emissions nearly in half by 2030 and to "net-zero" by 2050 - and the G20 set no firm date, speaking only of reaching the goal of net zero "by or around mid century".

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who hosted the G20 talks, said he was "proud of these results, but we must remember that it's only the start".

Eyes now turn to Glasgow, where more than 120 heads of state and government, including Biden, India's Narendra Modi and Australia's Scott Morrison, were heading from Rome.

Lacking ambition

The G20 leaders did agree to end funding for new unabated coal plants abroad -- those whose emissions have not gone through any filtering process -- by the end of 2021.

But environmental campaign group Greenpeace slammed the final statement as "weak, lacking both ambition and vision", saying G20 leaders "failed to meet the moment".

"If the G20 was a dress rehearsal for COP26, then world leaders fluffed their lines," said Executive Director Jennifer Morgan.

Friederike Roder, senior director at anti-poverty group Global Citizen, told AFP the summit had produced "half-measures rather than concrete actions".

European leaders pointed out that given the fundamental divisions among the world's most advanced nations, a joint commitment to what was the most ambitious Paris goal was a step forward.

"I hear all the very alarmed talk on these subjects. I'm myself worried and we are fully mobilised," said French President Emmanuel Macron.

"But I would like us to take a step back and look at the situation where we were four years ago", when former US President Donald Trump announced he was pulling out of the treaty.

Draghi said that the needle had moved markedly even in the past few days, including by China -- by far the world's biggest carbon polluter.

Beijing plans to make its economy carbon neutral before 2060, but has resisted pressure to offer nearer-term goals.

'Dream big'

Earlier on Sunday, Draghi, Britain's Prince Charles and Pope Francis had all called on leaders to think big.

Calling climate change "the defining challenge of our times", Draghi warned: "Either we act now... or we delay acting, pay a much higher price later, and risk failing."

Pope Francis, who is outspoken on the issue and received several G20 leaders at the Vatican this weekend, said: "This is a moment to dream big, to rethink our priorities... The time to act, and to act together, is now!"

Hackers threaten to out Israeli LGBTQ dating site users

Issued on: 31/10/2021 
Tel Aviv (AFP)

A hacking group calling itself Black Shadow threatened Sunday to reveal personal details of a million users of Israeli's leading LGBTQ dating site, an attack some cyber experts linked to Iran.

"If we have 1 Millions $ in our wallet in the next 48 hours, we will not leak this information and also we will not sell it to anybody," Black Shadow wrote on Telegram.

The Atraf dating site was compromised after Black Shadow hacked CyberServe, an Israeli internet service provider whose clients include public transportation firms, museums and a travel company.

On Saturday, the group dumped tens of thousands of records online from the various sites it had penetrated, including 1,000 user profiles from Atraf.

The leaked records included users' HIV status, sexual orientation and unencrypted passwords.

Ran Shalhavi, CEO of The Aguda -- The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel, told AFP his organisation had extended its emergency hotline hours to deal with a flood of worried callers.

"They are exposed, and if they are in the closet, they are exposed to situations they never knew before," he said, adding that the association was working with different groups to "reduce damage".

Libi Oz, a spokeswoman for the government-funded Israel National Cyber Directorate, said her office warned CyberServe "several times" it was vulnerable to attack.

AFP was unable to reach Atraf for comment, and CyberServe did not return AFP's calls.

Cyber intelligence researcher Ohad Zaidenberg said the breach appeared to be linked to a hack of Israeli insurance firm Shirbit last year, also claimed by Black Shadow, as well as an attack in March on Israeli insurance company KLS Capital Ltd.

"Now they are doing something relatively similar," Zaidenberg said.

"We know that attack on Shirbit was Iranian, and therefore we can say, if it's the same attacker and that attack was Iranian, this attack is Iranian."

Keren Elazari, a cybersecurity expert and researcher at Tel Aviv University, agreed that the attack appeared to be Iranian.

"A big part of the hacks we've seen is not about ransom," she said. "It's about embarrassing Israeli companies, embarrassing Israeli citizens."

She said the pandemic had opened new vulnerabilities for Israeli firms, as working from home offered less cybersecurity and has "multiplied the opportunity for attacks".

"CyberServe did not apply necessary procedures to protect itself," she told AFP.

© 2021 AFP

Iranian civil defense chief says US & Israel behind cyberattack that disrupted thousands of gas stations this week

31 Oct, 2021 08:45

A gas station in Tehran, Iran, October 27, 2021. © AP/Vahid Salemi

Iran’s civil defense chief has accused the US and Israel of paralyzing the work of the country’s gas stations this week. He said “internal factors” may have also been involved in the cyberattack.

The head of Iran’s Civil Defense Organization, Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali, compared the recent cyber intrusion to last year’s attack on the Shahid Rajaee terminal near the southern port city of Bandar Abbas on the coast of the Strait of Hormuz, and the hack that disrupted the country’s rail service in July. 

Reuters quoted Jalali as saying on Iranian state TV that while he was “still unable to say forensically,” he believed “analytically” the US and Israel were responsible for the attack. The general added that “internal factors” may have been involved as well, and said security services were investigating the matter.

“This attack is similar to cyberattacks on the railways and Shahid Rajaee, and we think it was definitely carried out by the Americans and the Zionists,” Jalali was quoted by IRNA as saying, referring to the Israeli government. 

Iran has seen a wave of explosions, fires, and cyberattacks on critical infrastructure since the beginning of last year amid heightened tensions with Washington and Tel Aviv. Iranian officials regularly accuse the US and Israel of carrying out various subversive activities on Iranian soil. American and Israeli officials either deny or do not comment on such claims. 

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi confirmed on Wednesday that a cyberattack had disrupted the work of thousands of gas stations across the country. The intrusion disabled the government-issued smart cards that many drivers use to buy fuel. 

Raisi said hackers wanted to make “people angry by creating disorder and disruption.” Jalali told IRNA on Sunday that 60% of the stations resumed work 12 hours after the hack. 

Israeli media reported this week that the Black Shadow hacker group had broken into the servers of an Israeli internet hosting company, Cyberserve, bringing down a number of websites, including a data storage company, a transport company, and an LGBT dating service. According to reports, the group, which has targeted Israeli companies in the past, has links to Iran.  

Last seven years on track to be hottest on record: UN

Issued on: 31/10/2021 - 

Recent years have seen an onslaught of extreme weather, including wildfires made more intense by climate change

 Patrick T. FALLON AFP/File

Glasgow (AFP)

The years from 2015 to 2021 are on track to be the seven hottest on record, the World Meteorological Organization said on Sunday, warning that the planet was heading into "uncharted territory".

The preliminary WMO state of the climate report, launched as the UN COP26 climate conference opens, said that global warming from greenhouse gas emissions threatens "far-reaching repercussions for current and future generations".

Based on data for the first nine months of the year, the WMO said 2021 was likely to be between the fifth and seventh warmest year on record -- despite the cooling effect of the La Nina phenomenon that lowered temperatures at the beginning of the year.

"From the ocean depths to mountain tops, from melting glaciers to relentless extreme weather events, ecosystems and communities around the globe are being devastated," said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a statement on the report.

He added that the two-week COP26 climate conference "must be a turning point for people and planet".

The WMO found that the average temperature for 2021 was around 1.09 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels.

And the average temperature over the last 20 years (2002-2021) for the first time exceeded the symbolic threshold of 1C above the mid-19th century, when humans began burning fossil fuels on an industrial scale.

This will "focus the minds of delegates at COP26 aspiring to keep global temperature rise to within the limits agreed in Paris six years ago", said Stephen Belcher, chief scientist at Britain's Met Office.

The 2015 Paris Agreement saw countries agree to cap global warming at "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels, and 1.5C if possible.

Since then the world has seen a litany of weather disasters including record-shattering wildfires across Australia and Siberia, a once-in-a-thousand-years heatwave in North America and extreme rainfall that caused massive flooding in Asia, Africa, the US and Europe.

"Extreme events are the new norm," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

"There is mounting scientific evidence that some of these bear the footprint of human-induced climate change."

'Unimaginable' consequences

The state of the climate report is a snapshot of planetary health, including temperatures, extreme weather, glacier retreat and ice melt.

Ocean acidification due to the absorption of carbon dioxide by the seas was "unprecedented" in at least 26,000 years, the WMO said, adding that this will lessen the ability of the oceans to take in more C02.

Meanwhile, sea level rise -- mainly caused by the expansion of warming sea water and the melting of ice on land -- was at a new high.

The report is "shocking and deeply disturbing and yet another wake-up call to world leaders that time has run out for talk", said Jonathan Bamber, Director of the Bristol Glaciology Centre, in comments to the Science Media Centre.

He said on the current trajectory, sea level rise could exceed two metres (more than six feet) by 2100, which could displace some 630 million people worldwide.

"The consequences of that are unimaginable," said Bamber.

"What is required now is profound and comprehensive action by every nation and state actor to limit further and deeper climate breakdown."

© 2021 AFP