EU Reporter
Published 4 weeks ago
Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius has hosted a ministerial meeting to build support among the members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) for the designation of new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean, in particular the EU proposals to establish MPAs in East Antarctica and in the Weddell Sea. The meeting was key in shaping a joint strategy to work together towards the adoption of new MPAs in CCAMLR and to present the Commission s actions under the European Green Deal that contribute to protecting the Antarctica. Speaking after the meeting, Commissioner Sinkevičius said: “Biodiversity loss and the climate crises are going faster than we had ever anticipated. It is critical to act now, if we are to turn the tide and conserve the rich and vulnerable marine life of the Southern Ocean. I am glad that we all expressed our commitment today in a joint
ambitiously slash carbon emissions in the coming decades. Sea levels, of course, wonât instantly rise by tens of feet: Miles-thick ice sheets take many centuries to thousands of years to melt. But, critically, humanity is already setting the stage for a relatively quick return to Pliocene climes, or climes at least significantly warmer than now. Itâs happening fast. When CO2
naturally increases in the atmosphere, pockets of ancient air
preserved in ice show this CO2 rise happens gradually, over thousands of years. But today, carbon dioxide levels are skyrocketing as humans burn long-buried fossil fuels. CO2 in the atmosphere has gone up 100 ppm in my lifetime, said Kathleen Benison, a geologist at West Virginia University who researches past climates. âThatâs incredibly fast geologically.
What Earth was like last time CO2 levels were this high msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The 50×30 coalition is an alliance between cryosphere and emissions research institutions, and governments that have accepted the scientific necessity to reduce emissions 50% by 2030; in order to prevent cascading and irreversible damage, on a planetary scale, from the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the cryosphere.
Because of cryosphere, carbon neutrality by 2050 is not enough: the way we get there matters. Overshoot of the 1.5°C goal cannot be considered a viable or safe option, from either an economic or social standpoint. This is because much of the Earth’s polar and mountain regions – whether glaciers, snowpack, permafrost, sea ice, polar oceans and seas, or the great polar ice sheets – react directly to peaks in temperature and carbon dioxide emissions.