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A Major U.N. Report Warns Climate Change Is Accelerating : NPR

Global climate change is accelerating and human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases are the overwhelming cause, according to a landmark report released Monday by the United Nations. There is still time to avoid catastrophic warming this century, but only if countries around the world stop burning fossil fuels as quickly as possible, the authors warn.

The message to world leaders is more dire, and more unequivocal, than ever before.

"It is indisputable that human activities are causing climate change," says Ko Barrett, the vice chair of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the senior adviser for climate at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Each of the last four decades has been the warmest on record since preindustrial times."

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Reducing Climate Pollution Saves Lives, Study Finds : NPR

Cutting greenhouse gas emissions quickly would save tens of millions of lives worldwide, a new study finds. It's the latest indication that climate change is deadly to humans, and that the benefits of transitioning to a cleaner economy could be profound.

In recent years, the connection between a hotter planet and human death and disease has become clearer, thanks to a series of research papers. A study published in 2021 found that about a third of heat-related deaths worldwide can be directly attributed to human-caused climate change. A 2020 Lancet report warned that climate change is the biggest global public health threat of the century.

But those findings have not been factored into one of the three major computer models that scientists, economists and the federal government use to calculate the societal costs of carbon emissions. That means economists and policymakers may be underestimating the cost of climate change to human life.

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Key Takeaways From The Climate Meeting Kicking Off Today : NPR

More than 200 of the world's leading climate scientists will begin meeting today to finalize a landmark report summarizing how Earth's climate has already changed, and what humans can expect for the rest of the century.

The report is the sixth edition of an assessment of the latest climate science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body that coordinates research about global warming. The last edition of this report came out in 2013 — an eternity in the world of climate science, where the pace of both warming and research are steadily accelerating.

Climate Action Council Meeting – Meetings and Materials

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Climate Action Council Meeting – Meetings and Materials

I think it's worthwhile to at least review some of the meetings and materials of the Climate Action Council to get a better idea of the future of the state. While certainly these materials -- largely generated by idealists with no real power -- are just brainstorming sessions, the state may have dropped hints on how they plan to use political power to change the face of the state. After all, the works of the Temporary Commission on the Future of Albany, along with planning document "Albany - A Plan for the Capital City 1963" has proven to be a powerful roadmap in understanding on what has happened to Albany in the coming years.