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: Morally, The North Must Help the Southern Hemisphere Cope with the Climate Crisis
Dear Diary. Outside of Australia, most portions of the Southern Hemisphere are very impoverished and are not capable of handling a large existential crisis. While the climate crisis is becoming more and more stressful for richer Northern Hemisphere countries, nations like India, Bangladesh, and those in southeast Asia and southern Africa are still developing with extensive large and poor populations that can’t afford to go through rapid change. In other words, during the remainder of the 21st century the Northern Hemisphere is poised to fair better than ghat of the South as all areas of the planet contend with climate change.
Being socially liberal, I’ve often agreed with many others that if we are better off with our wealth and resources, we have a moral imperative to help those who are less fortunate. Already we have seen, starting in the 2010s, that within the Paris Accords climate negotiations many Southern Hemisphere nations demanded allowances from those in the North because they were poorer and also since they were less developed, they emitted far less carbon pollution.
A third and perhaps biggest reason why the Northern Hemisphere should earmark funds and aid for the South is because as of 2022 we see climate change happening more rapidly stretching from southern Africa through India into Southeast Asia than any other region of Earth. Most recently a horrific heatwave has affected India, and there has been horrific flooding across portions of the region. Too, there is the matter of sea level rise that is in the process of submerging whole island countries across the South Pacific. They desperately need our help to relocate their people. I know that in my home state of Georgia there are only subtle signs of warming but not like across India or Australia.
Here is a short Al Jazeera article detailing why the North should aid the South:
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/5/11/climate-change-is-devastating-the-global-south
OPINIONOPINION,Opinions|Climate Crisis
Climate change is devastating the Global South
It is high time for rich countries in North America and Europe to step up and help.
- Saleemul Huq Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)
- Mohamed Adow Founder and Director of Power Shift Africa
Published On 11 May 2022
Right now in India and Pakistan, a record-breaking heatwave is impacting the daily lives of nearly a billion people. Scorching temperatures are damaging wheat harvests, preventing many labourers from working outdoors, and making people vulnerable to serious health issues and even death.
Our native countries of Kenya and Bangladesh are suffering too: Northern Kenya is facing a prolonged drought that is putting rural communities at greater risk of starvation and last year, torrential rains left one-quarter of Bangladesh under water and destroyed the homes of millions. These are some of the latest examples of how the 3.6 billion people in developing countries are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, and a preview of what the “new normal” will look like if the global community doesn’t immediately step up its climate action.
KEEP READING
Nigeria: Pastoralist crisis survivors get second chance at school
Pakistan city hits nearly 50C as blistering heatwave grips nation
‘Must be credible’: Energy giants challenged over climate action
Dehydrated birds falling from sky in India amid record heatwave
Given their power, wealth, and responsibility for the climate crisis, the onus is particularly on rich countries in North America and Europe to help vulnerable countries weather climate impacts – and it has never been more urgent. Despite the negligible contribution that most vulnerable countries have made to cause climate change, these countries are the most ambitious in tackling it – but they cannot fight this crisis on their own. Not only is this the moral thing to do, but it will also help minimise the challenges and costs down the road, such as disaster recovery efforts and the migration of climate refugees forced to leave their homelands as they become increasingly uninhabitable.
The decisions adopted at the UN’s COP26 climate negotiations last year fell far short of the expectations of vulnerable developing countries. We can’t wait any longer to act.
This week, the ACT2025 consortium (Allied for Climate Transformation by 2025), a coalition amplifying the voices of vulnerable countries in the climate negotiations, announced a call to action for progress at the COP27 conference in Egypt this November.
First, countries – especially G7 and G20 countries – must commit to further reducing emissions to keep the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C (34.7 degrees Fahrenheit) – the threshold scientists believe will prevent the most dangerous climate impacts – within reach. More ambitious climate pledges have lately helped the world close the warming gap from a predicted 4 degrees C (39.2 degrees F) to now 2.1 degrees C (35.8 degrees F). However, since every fraction of a degree of warming will make an enormous difference in the scale of climate impacts and their effect on the lives of the most vulnerable, the progress made so far is not enough.
Second, developed countries must deliver adequate funding to help developing nations address climate change – and make sure this funding will benefit the most vulnerable by empowering communities to pursue the adaptation solutions they need. This includes delivering $600bn by 2025, a goal that developed countries are not yet on track to achieve.
Third, countries must implement stronger adaptation measures, including coming to an agreement on a global goal on adaptation and how to track progress as well as delivering adequate, quality finance to support adaptation on the ground. Adaptation initiatives range from restoring coastal ecosystems that buffer storms to growing drought-resistant crops. Success will require governments to ensure local communities have decision-making power over adaptation efforts.
Fourth, developed countries must commit to providing finance specifically for losses and damages that are too extreme for countries and communities to adapt to. While such impacts are global in nature, they hit the most vulnerable the hardest, such as low-lying islands disappearing due to rising sea levels, farmers no longer being able to support crops due to extreme heat, or communities forced to abandon ancestral homelands that can no longer support them. This injustice must be addressed, yet so far the only governments to offer funds to help the victims suffering climate-related losses and damages have been Scotland and the Wallonia province in Belgium – both welcome contributions, but wealthier developed countries now need to take the lead.
And lastly, countries that have ratified the Paris Agreement must implement rules that will hold countries and non-state actors accountable for their commitments. This includes ensuring that governments actually have the wherewithal to achieve the goals they’ve set and that climate progress is measured accurately and transparently.
Shortly after COP27, we will be a quarter of the way through the decade that scientists agree will be critical to determine the future of life on this planet. What will the world have to show for it? Climate change is at our doorsteps, and vulnerable countries don’t have a moment to lose. The world needs to be all in, all together, to swiftly and fairly address this global crisis.
The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
- Saleemul Huq Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) Saleemul Huq is the Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) and Professor at the Independent University Bangladesh (IUB)
- Mohamed Adow Founder and Director of Power Shift Africa Mohamed Adow is Founder and Director of Power Shift Africa, a nongovernmental organisation and think tank based in Kenya to mobilise climate action in Africa.
Here are “ET’s” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days and extreme temperature outlooks:
Here is more April 2022 climatology:
Here is more climate, weather and science news from Friday:
(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.)
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Guy Walton “The Climate Guy”
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