The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😉
Main Topic: Climate Central’s Take On COP26 Plus A Letter From Climate Reality
Dear Diary. Every organization dealing with climate has a stake in the goings on at COP26 in Glasgow. I’ve been concentrating on Clinate Central, based in Princeton, New Jersey, for many years since I know its founder, Dr. Heidi Cullen and know Bernadette Woods Placky, its current leader. I also know various other people in association with the organization. Climate Central has featured my work on record count statistics from time to time.
Here is Climate Central’s article in COP26 with some updated graphics:
https://medialibrary.climatecentral.org/resources/global-cop26-local-impacts
Global COP26, Local Impacts
NOV 3, 2021
Climate Central is on the ground at COP26 this week to bring you updates and analysis of what this global climate summit could mean for future warming across the U.S. and around the world.
See full multimedia package here >>
KEY CONCEPTS
- COP26, the ongoing U.N. climate summit, aims to close the gap between global warming targets and climate action. But what does this global summit mean locally?
- COP26 outcomes could lead to radically different future warming pathways in 246 locations across the U.S., according to analysis from Climate Central.
- And Picturing Our Future visualizes how the choices we make this decade, including at COP26, could transform hundreds of iconic locations around the world.
- Read on for more analysis and resources to help connect COP26 to local audiences.
| Interviews for COP26: Climate Central is on the ground at COP26 in Glasgow and available for interviews. Please contact pgirard@climatecentral.org to set up an interview. Available dates and times are listed below: Thursday, Nov 4 at 1 pm ET and Thursday, Nov 11 at 1 pm ET |
COP26, the 26th United Nations climate summit, is underway in Glasgow, Scotland and runs through November 12.
While world leaders convene at COP26, climate change continues to affect lives across the U.S. and around the globe—from extreme weather to rising health risks. The impacts we’re feeling today are the result of just 1.1°C (2.0°F) of global warming.
Climate impacts worsen with every bit of warming in the absence of costly adaptation measures—which is why nearly 200 countries agreed in 2015 to limit global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F). But we’re currently on track for 2.7°C of warming by the end of the century, leaving a glaring gap between global targets and global action.
COP26 is a pivotal opportunity to close this gap. The decisions made at COP26 could send future generations down very different pathways.
Analysis from Climate Central shows that the choices we make now could lead to radically different levels of warming at 246 locations across the U.S. Depending on how quickly emissions are cut, nationwide warming could range from 1 to 5°C (1.8 to 9°F) by 2100 (relative to the 1991-2020 baseline, see methodology here).
And Picturing Our Future visualizes how sea level rise could transform hundreds of iconic locations around the world depending on if we meet or exceed the global target of 1.5°C (2.7°F) of warming.
Rising temperatures and sea levels are just a few local consequences of global climate change that COP26 aims to limit.
For more ways to localize this global climate summit:
- View recent trends in billion-dollar weather and climate disasters across the U.S.
- Find out how warming has affected mosquitoes and the diseases they carry in your region.
- Learn how climate change is impacting fire seasons in the west.
- Evaluate the intensity of urban heat islands in your city, and related health risks.
More COP26 reporting resources:
- Visit the Climate Central COP26 Resource Hub for reporting resources and science explainers.
- Check out our rundown of the who, what and why of COP26.
- Reach out to an expert on climate science or policy.
- Watch our press briefings on the high stakes and key goals of COP26.
Related Media
COP26
OCT 27, 2021
Check out our guide to next week’s UN Climate Change Conference—and see what the outcomes could mean for future warming at 240+ stations across the U.S.
Picturing Our Future
OCT 12, 2021
Climate Central releases an international collection of videos and interactive visualizations of long-term sea level rise that show what we can save—if we choose to act now.
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I’m also part of the leadership team of Climate Reality. The following is a letter I received this morning from Vice President Al Gore’s C.R. organization:
Dear Walton,
Today, world leaders, policy makers, and activists are heading into the third of twelve days of negotiations at COP 26, the UN’s critical climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. The science is clear: to keep warming to 1.5 degrees, we must cut global emissions in half by 2030.
The opening pledges from policymakers, business leaders, and heavy hitters in finance and other sectors usually comes at the first two days of the conference, known as the World Leaders Summit.
Here are some key takeaways from the conference so far:
Leaders are talking big – but falling short on delivering real plans for action. Many countries are making net-zero pledges, but few have concrete plans for how they will get there. Together, these pledges won’t hold global warming to 1.5ºC.
Big Polluters and major institutions are dropping the ball. Brazil committed to effectively the same emissions cuts as it did in 2015. Australia is counting on technology that doesn’t exist yet to meet its 2050 goal. India strengthened its 2030 commitments, but pledged to reach net zero by 2070 – a good signal, but far too late to prevent catastrophe. The hope is that near-term targets will help them reach net zero much sooner.
Access and accountability are an issue. COVID travel restrictions mean that one-third of leaders from Pacific Island nations suffering some of the worst climate impacts can’t attend COP 26. These same restrictions have also prevented most Indigenous and civil society observers from attending negotiations, limiting oversight, accountability, and climate justice.
But the news isn’t all bad! Forests are finally getting the attention they deserve, with over 100 countries containing 85% of the world’s forest cover pledging to end deforestation by 2030 (coupled with about $19 billion in funding). Over 100 countries have also joined the Global Methane Pledge, with $300 million in funding to cut dangerous methane emissions.
Check out our latest blog to read more. We’ll be sending more updates around as the conference progresses.
Thank you for everything you do,
The Climate Reality Project
Here are some more COP26 articles and news:
Here is new October 2021 climatology:
Here is more climate and weather news from Thursday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)
Now here are some of today’s articles and notes on the horrid COVID-19 pandemic:
(If you like these posts and my work please contribute via the PayPal widget, which has recently been added to this site. Thanks in advance for any support.)
Guy Walton “The Climate Guy”