the facts

Global Warming

The 1990s was the warmest decade, and 1998 the warmest year on global record (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC).

The Earth is warming faster than at any time in the past 10,000 years (IPCC).

The burning of coal, oil and gas has increased the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere by 30% over natural levels (IPCC).

By 2100 the world could be 6¼C (IPCC) - recent research (e.g. at Oxford Univ.) suggests it could even be as much as 10¼C warmer on average.

The summer of 2003 was Europe’s hottest for 500 years. The heatwave caused 28,000 premature deaths across the continent.

Europe’s capitals have warmed, some by 2°C in the last 30 years. London’s average maximum summer temperature increased the most. This warming trend will increase the likelihood of more frequent and intense heatwaves, droughts and rainstorms (WWF-UK).

Impacts

150,000 people already die every year from climate change (World Health Organisation).

The area of the world stricken by drought has doubled between 1970 and the early 2000s (Greenpeace).

The economic costs of global warming are doubling every decade (UN).

The impact of climate change on some wildlife will already be catastrophic even with little further change in the climate. Up to a third of land-based species could face extinction by the middle of the century (RSPB).

100 million more people will be flooded by end of century (FoE).

People in low-income countries are four times more likely to die in natural disasters than people in high income countries. Globally, disaster losses increased from $71 billion in the 1960s to $608 billion in 1990s. Poverty and lagging development exacerbates people’s vulnerability to extreme weather (Oxfam).

Water availability could decline – Over 3 billion people in the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent could be facing acute shortages of water (Oxfam).

Global warming will submerge many low-lying island nations entirely — one of the Carteret atolls of Papua New Guinea has already been cut in half by the ocean. Tuvalu in the South Pacific has concluded a deal with New Zealand to evacuate the entire 10,000 population (People & Planet).

30 million more people may be hungry because of climate change by 2050 (Hadley Centre, UK).

There has been a 40% drop in the amount of arctic ice since the 1970s. Were this effect to spread, and the northern ice fields melt, a rise in sea levels of up to seven meters would occur. This would not simply overwhelm low-lying countries like Bangladesh, but also major western cities such as London, Rome and New York (People & Planet).

The whole western Siberian sub-Arctic region has started to thaw for the first time since its formation, 11,000 years ago. The area, which is the size of France and Germany combined, could release billions of tones of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This would be irreversible and would ramp up temperatures even more (BBC).

In the next 15 years, displacement, disruption to agriculture and food supplies, and damage and destruction to infrastructure would be likely to lead to economic and political instability, both within countries and across international borders, and even to wars as environmental refugees seek new homes and countries clash over scarce water and food supplies. The industrial countries also could find themselves under immense pressure from huge numbers of environmental refugees from the developing world (Christian Aid).

Polar bears could become extinct by the end of this century. They are very unlikely to survive as a species if there is an almost complete loss of summer sea ice cover, which is projected to occur before the end of this century by some climate models (WWF-UK).

By the end of the century, rising sea levels and crop failures could create 150 million refugees. Even in the UK, 5 million people are at risk from increased flood and storm damage (Operation Noah).

In one region of Mozambique, it used to be normal with two seasons – hot and cool. Recently temperatures have risen from 30°C up to 49°C in the hot season and are less cold in the cool season, changing the timing of the rains. The majority of communities are afraid to plant, thinking that it is not the right time, thus affecting the food security of the region (Tearfund).

The cost of insured damage in a severe hurricane season in the USA could rise by three-quarters to £82billion ($ 150 billion), an increase equivalent to almost three Hurricane Andrews - the costliest single weather event recorded” (Association of British Insurers).

The financial costs of flooding could rise in both the UK and the rest of Europe, increasing the annual flood bill by up to £82 billion across Europe. (Association of British Insurers).

Solutions

Lighting an average office overnight wastes enough energy to heat water for 1,000 cups of tea (BBC).

A PC monitor on standby uses 51kWh per year of electricity (equivalent to 500 boiling kettles) (BBC).

Two photocopiers and three printers switched off saves around five tones of CO2 per year (BBC).

What they are saying

“Climate change is the single biggest long-term problem we face - the evidence is overwhelming” (UK Prime Minister Tony Blair).

"Climate change is a far greater threat to the world than international terrorism"
(Sir David King, UK Government's chief scientific adviser).

“Imagine melting polar icecaps and rising sea levels, threatening highly developed coastal areas...Imagine a warmer and wetter world in which infectious diseases such as malaria and yellow fever spread more easily…(this is not) science fiction; it is sober prediction, based on the best science available” (UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan).

"A path to prosperity that ravages the environment and leaves a majority of humankind behind in squalor will soon prove to be a dead-end road for everyone" (UN Secretary, General Kofi Annan).

"The key is actually discarding the idea that has dominated economic policy making, which is: in order for a country to get rich, stay rich and get richer, you have to put more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That isn't true and it hasn't been true for years" (Former US President Bill Clinton).

"This is a huge problem. If we don't deal with this within just a few years, you will have island nations flooded; you will have the agricultural balance of most countries completely changed; you will have a dramatic increase in the number of severe, unmanageable weather events... The good news is that we can now deal with this problem - and strengthen our economic growth, not weaken it" (Former US President Bill Clinton).

“It is not sufficient to have debt cancellation, aid raised to 0.7% of GDP and fair trade if you also have global warming and environmental degradation...we have to mobilise to make sure climate change is on the same frontburner in people's minds as the other issues" (Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights).

“The environment is very important in the aspects of peace because when we destroy our resources and our resources become scarce, we fight over that” (Wangari Maathai, Nobel Laureate).

“I urge governments, development and environmental organisations to work together to find sustainable solutions to avert a catastrophe that will exacerbate human suffering to a magnitude that perhaps the world has not yet seen" (Desmond Tutu, Archbishop of Cape Town).

"A child born in a wealthy country is likely to consume, waste, and pollute more in his lifetime than 50 children born in developing nations. Our energy-burning lifestyles are pushing our planet to the point of no return. It is dawning on us at last that the life of our world is as vulnerable as the children we raise" (George Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury).

"If it were only a few degrees, that would be serious, but we could adapt to it. But the danger is the warming process might be unstable and run away. We could end up like Venus, covered in clouds and with the surface temperature of 400 degrees. It could be too late if we wait until the bad effects of warming become obvious. We need action now to reduce emission of carbon dioxide" (Prof. Stephen Hawking, Physicist).

"If you thought British summers were unpredictable, climate change has the power to make them unrecognisable with extreme weather events from floods to heatwaves and droughts becoming more frequent" (Sian Lloyd, national weather presenter).

“Treat the Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents. It was loaned to you by your children.” Kenyan Proverb

Why Stop Climate Chaos is calling on the Prime Minister to publicly state his support for legally binding targets to cut greenhouse gases, both at home and internationally.

Without urgent action, climate change will devastate life on earth. Hundreds of millions of people, particularly the world’s poorest and most vulnerable, will be put at severe risk of drought, floods, starvation, and disease. By the middle of the century up to one third of land-based species could face extinction.

If we are to avoid catastrophic climate change, we need to cut our emissions of greenhouse gases, and keep the average global temperature increase under 2°C. Capping the rise in average global temperatures doesn’t mean that we won’t see any harmful impacts, but a 2°C limit will keep them to a minimum. To stay within this limit, global greenhouse gas emissions must peak and be falling irreversibly by 2015. Therefore the choices made now and in the next five to ten years, by politicians and decision makers, will determine the extent of the devastation faced by future generations.

So far, politicians have failed to take sufficient action to avoid exceeding this 2°C limit. Legally binding national targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are the only way of meeting the global 2015 target, as well as holding world leaders to account over taking the necessary action.

The alternative to legally binding targets is voluntary schemes. However, it is widely accepted that voluntary schemes cannot achieve the same level of environmental protection as mandatory ones; they are usually adopted when political resistance blocks the implementation of more powerful mandatory controls.  Stop Climate Chaos believes that we cannot risk leaving the issue of greenhouse gas emissions to voluntary action and that the problem requires legally binding targets that are set by the scientific analysis, and not weakened by political considerations.

High emitting countries, with their prime historic responsibility for the emissions that have led to this crisis, must lead in reducing their emissions to make certain that this goal is achieved. Developing countries must also ensure that their own emissions are ultimately reduced within a global framework, but by an amount and timing that accounts for their pressing developmental needs and lack of resources.

This is why we are calling on the Prime Minister to publicly state his support for legally binding targets to cut greenhouse gases, both at home and internationally; there is no credible alternative if the worst effects of climate change are to be avoided.

Please write to your MP. Urge them to ask Tony Blair to publicly state his support for legally binding targets to cut greenhouse gases, both at home and internationally.

Click here to take action.