Con lo spettro dei cambiamenti climatici e di eventi sempre più estremi, come il supertifone Hainan nelle Filippine (così intenso non si verificava da 50 anni), si aprono oggi a Varsavia i negoziati sul clima delle Nazioni Unite che porteranno al summit Lima dell’anno prossimo e poi a quello di Parigi del 2015, dove dovrebbe essere siglato il nuovo accordo globale sul clima.
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Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are rising at an accelerating pace to record levels, a trend that will drive climate change and endanger future generations, according to the World Meteorological Organisation. Carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas linked to fossil fuel burning and deforestation, rose by an average of 2.2 parts per million (ppm) in 2012 to 393.1. That increase compared with 1.5 ppm in the 1990s and 2 ppm in the past decade, and brings atmospheric levels to 41 per cent more than pre-industrial times, the WMO said in its annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin.
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It’s a human-centric approach, but the prospect of a food scare should be one way to get people—believers and deniers alike—to seriously evaluate the effects of climate change. Last week, a source leaked a draft report, drawn up by the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and due to be released next March. It’s the second of three reports, following the first that came out in September this year. Among other things, the text clearly outlines the threats climate change poses to the global food supply, citing a decrease of up to 2% each decade in yields of staple crops like maize, wheat, and rice.
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Western oil companies trying to find shale gas in Europe are discovering that Ukraine, eager to reduce its dependence on Russian energy imports, is one of their most willing partners. On Tuesday, Chevron signed a 50-year agreement with the Ukrainian government to develop oil and gas in western Ukraine. The government said that Chevron would spend $350 million on the exploratory phase of the project and that the total investment could reach $10 billion.
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di Demostenes Floros
A ottobre, il dollaro si è deprezzato nei confronti dell’euro sino a superare quota 1,38€/$ (record da ottobre 2011). La valuta americana ha costantemente perso terreno nei confronti della divisa europea a partire dal “congelamento” dell’intervento militare statunitense in Siria: infatti il 6 settembre il cambio quotava 1,31€/$ dopo essersi mantenuto in un range compreso tra 1,32/34€/$ durante il tesissimo mese di agosto.
Hong Kong (CNN) — Nearly a third of the world’s economic output will come from countries facing “high” to “extreme” risks from the impacts of climate change within 12 years, according to a new report. The Climate Change Vulnerability Index, an annual report produced by UK-based risk analysis firm Maplecroft, found that climate change “may pose a serious obstacle to sustainable economic growth in the world’s most commercially important cities.”
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