Latest news with #PotsdamInstituteforClimateImpactResearch
Sharjah 24
a day ago
- Climate
- Sharjah 24
Summer 2025: A season of climate extremes unfolds
According to climate experts, such intensification of weather events is a direct result of accelerating climate change. Sonia Seneviratne of ETH Zurich and the IPCC highlights the increasing frequency and intensity of both heat and rainfall events globally. Fred Hattermann from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research adds that 2024 marked the first year the planet's average surface temperature exceeded 1.6°C above pre-industrial levels—a shift fueling extreme weather. This slight rise in global temperature significantly amplifies the risks of evaporation, leading to heavier rainfall and catastrophic flooding. 'With every increment of temperature rise, the risk of more and stronger extremes increases,' warns Hattermann. Gulf and Turkey scorch under record heat In the Gulf region, the mercury has soared past 50°C repeatedly this summer. The UAE recorded a searing 51.8°C on August 1, nearing its all-time high. Riyadh, Kuwait, and Iraq have seen persistent 50°C days, straining power grids and shrinking water reserves. For the first time, Turkey saw temperatures exceed 50°C, with the town of Silopi hitting 50.5°C on July 26. The country is simultaneously grappling with severe drought and thousands of wildfires. Asia sees historic rain and heat Japan broke its national temperature record this week with 41.8°C in Isesaki, northwest of Tokyo. The heat is altering ecosystems too — Japan's iconic cherry trees are blooming earlier than ever. In Hong Kong, August 6 brought the heaviest rainfall in over 140 years — 35.5 cm in just one day. A week earlier in mainland China, deadly floods claimed at least 44 lives north of Beijing. Pakistan floods, northern Europe bakes In Pakistan, 'unusual' monsoon rains have already killed 266 people — nearly half of them children. Punjab province recorded 73% more rainfall in July compared to last year, triggering widespread flooding. Meanwhile, Scandinavia, typically a refuge from summer heat, has seen Mediterranean-like temperatures. Finland experienced a record 22 consecutive days above 30°C. In Rovaniemi, north of the Arctic Circle, it reached 30°C — hotter than much of southern Europe at the time. Canada and beyond: Firestorms engulf forests Canada is enduring one of its worst wildfire seasons in history, driven by high temperatures and long-term drought. Similar wildfires have erupted in Scotland, Arizona, and Greece. The Copernicus Climate Change Service notes that smoke and greenhouse gas emissions from these fires are among the highest ever recorded for a northern hemisphere summer. Conclusion Summer 2025 has emerged as a stark reminder of the accelerating climate crisis. As scientists have long warned, global warming is no longer a future threat — it is a present and worsening reality reshaping our world.
National Observer
4 days ago
- Politics
- National Observer
Why warfare must be seen as a threat to our climate
As the planet nears critical ecological thresholds, the carbon clock is ticking down. According to the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, at current emission rates, we have just four years left before we exhaust the carbon budget required to limit warning to 1.5°C. Every decision we collectively make now either deepens the crisis or lessens its impacts. Yet in this rapidly narrowing window of existential action, governments continue to pour billions into warfare — one of the most destructive, carbon-intensive undertakings under any circumstances. The carbon footprint of war is often unaccounted for in national inventories, and it remains invisible in climate negotiations — yet the earth's atmosphere does not recognize these exemptions. More than 5 per cent of global emissions are linked to conflict or militaries. Recent research estimates that 15 months of Israel bombing Gaza, including arms production, military operations, and post-conflict reconstruction has and will contribute 32 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO 2 e) from October 2023 — January 2025. That's more than the annual emissions of 41 of the lowest-emitting countries and territories combined. Other research has shown that the 12 months of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have produced 120 million tCO2e — equivalent to the emissions of the country of Belgium. These emissions, like the loss of human life and community, are entirely avoidable. They not only add further strain to a climate system already breaking down, but also disproportionately harm those least responsible for the conflict: civilians, children, and those in climate-vulnerable regions. In this context of warfare, diplomacy is not simply a tool to minimize casualties, displacement, and the destruction of infrastructure — it is an existential necessity. We are a species standing at the edge of climate tipping points. Diplomatic solutions, especially when viable channels for negotiation exist, should be considered the only path forward. Indeed, at this moment in history, warfare is an almost incomprehensible act of hubris — short-term strategic posturing, and a dangerous disregard for planetary boundaries. Can we not force world leaders to settle their differences over phone calls, in rooms, or over Zoom? And for children and youth — those growing up amid intersecting crises — can we not find language that helps them make sense of this incoherence? This is not just a moral challenge, but a pedagogical one. Young people are experiencing profound cognitive dissonance as they are taught in school to value democracy, justice, and collective responsibility — while witnessing elected leaders disregarding their future, failing to recognize human rights, refusing to act on the climate crisis, and funding wars that undermine those very principles. At the root of this: betrayal. As young people try to make sense of a world where adults have failed to safeguard their well-being and future, they must reckon with the systems that are failing them. The results of the reckoning are the core characteristics of climate anxiety: fear, sadness, helplessness, anger, and frustration. Young people need spaces to process these feelings and opportunities for meaningful individual and collective action. Classrooms could serve as sites of refuge and resistance — but most educators feel ill-equipped to navigate these emotional and political depths. So the anxiety mounts, as students encounter headlines about Russia invading Ukraine, Israel's war in Gaza, and U.S. airstrikes in Iran. These are not just geopolitical events — they are vivid illustrations of how power is misused at the expense of planetary and intergenerational survival. I recently had a conversation with a sustainability colleague, who confided that they had lost respect for Greta Thunberg for attempting to deliver aid to Gaza. I told them I completely disagreed, and reflected on how that conversation was emblematic of the need for justice to be centered on climate education. We cannot afford to ignore the carbon cost of wars any longer, writes Ellen Field. As educators, we have to hold onto the possibility of peaceful and transformed futures, but given the increasing turn towards more warfare, authoritarianism, and the turning away from climate action, where do we even begin? Urgent hope feels overly simplistic as leaders look past the existential threat of climate collapse and focus instead on power, territory, retaliation, and legacy. As Canada engages in nation-building projects, we need projects that move us beyond 20th century approaches and into the transformed futures we want, and that match our ambition. What about education as a transformative nation-building project? We need to be better able to connect the dots AND we need cooler heads, collective courage, and the wisdom to prioritize life over legacy. We have to look clearly past entitled blindness shaped by the relative stability of the Holocene — assuming that the conditions which allowed civilizations to flourish will continue is incredibly naive. We cannot afford to ignore the carbon cost of conflict any longer and collectively find individual and collective coping and actions that bring in more stabilized futures. Dr. Ellen Field is an associate professor in the Faculty of Education at Lakehead University. Her research interests are in policy and practice of climate change education in the Canadian K-12 system. She teaches Environmental Education ( and Climate Change Education ( in the Faculty of Education, and has engaged hundreds of in-service teachers in professional development workshops.
Japan Today
5 days ago
- Climate
- Japan Today
Summer 2025 already a cavalcade of climate extremes
Higher temperatures increase evaporation, so that more water is stored in the atmosphere, in turn increasing the risk of heavy rainfall and flooding By Delphine PAYSANT and Julien MIVIELLE Record heat, massive fires, deadly floods... August has barely begun, but the summer of 2025 is already marked by a cascade of destructive and deadly weather in the northern hemisphere. "Extreme temperatures and precipitation have become more intense and more frequent on a global scale," says Sonia Seneviratne, a professor at ETH Zurich and member of the U.N.-mandated climate science advisory panel, the IPCC. "We are in the midst of climate change," Fred Hattermann, a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), told AFP. "The risk of extreme events has increased significantly," he said, noting that 2024 was the first year in which the planet's average surface temperature was 1.6 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial benchmark. That deceptively small jump makes a huge difference. Higher temperatures increase evaporation, so that more water is stored in the atmosphere. This, in turn, increases the risk of heavy rainfall and flooding. "With every increment of temperature rise, the risk of more and stronger extremes increases," Hattermann added. Already in May, temperatures exceeded 50C in the United Arab Emirates. On August 1, the thermometer hit 51.8C, just under the all-time record of 52C. The entire Gulf region is suffocating: the Saudi capital Riyadh recorded temperatures of 44°C, while Kuwait frequently hit 50C. As did Iraq, where air conditioning has become vulnerable to chronic power cuts, and water reserves are at their lowest level in years. Turkey saw the 50C threshold exceeded for the first time: the town of Silopi on the border with Iraq and Syria reached 50.5C on July 26. The country has experienced thousands of fires this summer amidst a severe drought. In Asia, meanwhile, Japan broke its all-time temperature record on Tuesday with 41.8C in the city of Isesaki, northwest of Tokyo. The country's iconic cherry trees, emblematic of the archipelago, are blooming earlier than ever due to the heat. On Tuesday, Hong Kong saw the highest rainfall total for August in more than 140 years of record-keeping: 35.5 centimeters in a single day. On mainland China, a week earlier, severe weather killed at least 44 people and left nine missing in rural districts north of Beijing. 266 people, nearly half of them children, have already lost their lives in Pakistan due to torrential rains sweeping across the country. The 2025 monsoon, which started early, was described as "unusual" by authorities. Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province, recorded 73 percent more rainfall in July than in 2024. People come to Scandinavia to seek cooler climes, but since July Norway, Sweden and Finland have experienced sustained temperatures more typical of the Mediterranean. August 3 marked the end of a 22-day period with temperatures above 30°C in Finland: a record. In Rovaniemi, a Finnish city north of the Arctic Circle, temperatures reached 30C, higher than in southern Europe at the same time. Canada is experiencing one of the worst forest fire seasons on record, amplified by drought and above-normal temperatures. Other parts of the world are also burning, from Scotland to Arizona and Greece. According to the European Union's Copernicus weather and climate observatory, total smoke and greenhouse gas emissions since the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere are among the highest ever recorded. © 2025 AFP
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
30-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Small coalitions could unlock $66 bn a year to fight climate change: Study
New research from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) suggests that smaller alliances of fossil fuel-importing countries could raise up to $66 billion every year to help developing nations reduce emissions. This approach, the study says, would not increase costs for consumers and could be a realistic way to support global climate goals, news agency PTI reported. At the COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, held in November 2024, countries agreed on a new goal to raise $300 billion per year by 2035 for climate finance. There is also a broader target of mobilising $1.3 trillion from both public and private sources. However, the agreement did not include any concrete plan on how this money would be raised. Several countries are proposing different types of levies to support climate funding: -Brazil and other nations are supporting a 2 per cent global wealth tax on billionaires, which could generate up to $250 billion annually. -The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has approved a carbon dioxide fee of $100 per tonne on shipping emissions starting in 2027. This could bring in $13 billion per year. Fossil fuel levies could raise $66 billion annually According to the PIK study, countries working together on fossil fuel import taxes could generate $66 billion a year to help lower-income countries shift to cleaner energy. If levies also covered emissions from international flights and shipping, the total could reach $200 billion per year. 'Governments are facing tightening fiscal space and are grappling with the question of where the money for international climate finance will come from. Smaller coalitions of countries cooperating on different kinds of levies could go a long way to solve the problem, without extra cost to consumers,' said Ottmar Edenhofer, PIK Director and lead author of the study, as quoted by PTI. EU-China cooperation could be a game-changer The research also shows that cooperation between large importers like the European Union and China could significantly boost climate finance. In one scenario, EU-China collaboration would quadruple the funds raised compared to what either could generate on its own. Consumers could also benefit from this cooperation, as lower global fuel prices would balance out any price increases from the levies. The study estimates that such collaboration could deliver: -$66 billion yearly for emission reductions in developing nations -$33 billion in net gains for those countries -$78 billion in avoided climate damages -$19 billion in annual fossil fuel savings India achieves non-fossil power target India has reached its target of 50 per cent non-fossil fuel-based power capacity five years prior to its 2030 deadline, Minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi announced earlier this month. Out of a total 484.8 GW installed capacity, 242.8 GW now comes from non-fossil sources. India has also set a goal of generating 500 GW from renewable energy by 2030. Fossil fuel combustion kills 1,500 In a separate study, scientists found that about 1,500 people died during the heatwave in the first week of July in Europe, solely because of climate change. 'These people would not have died if it had not been for our burning of oil, coal and gas in the last century,' said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London and co-author of the study. Researchers from Imperial College and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine used peer-reviewed methods to estimate that 2,300 people died across 12 cities due to the heat. Nearly two-thirds of these deaths were directly linked to higher temperatures caused by climate change. Of the 1,500 climate-related deaths, over 1,100 were people aged 75 or older, the study found.
Time of India
30-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Cooperative fossil fuel levies could raise 66 bn annually to fight climate change: Study
A new study by PIK proposes that coalitions of fossil fuel-importing countries could generate USD 66 billion annually to aid developing nations in cutting emissions. Cooperative levies on fossil fuels, especially with EU-China collaboration, could significantly boost climate finance. This approach offers a win-win scenario, reducing emissions and benefiting consumers through lower fuel prices and avoided climate damages. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Smaller coalitions of fossil fuel-importing countries could generate USD 66 billion annually to help developing nations cut emissions, according to a new study by climate economists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).Governments at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024 agreed to a new climate finance goal of USD 300 billion per year by 2035, with an ambition to mobilise USD 1.3 trillion from public and private sources, but failed to propose a mechanism to incentivise are advancing new taxes to boost climate finance. Brazil and others back a 2 per cent global wealth tax on billionaires, which could generate USD 230-250 billion International Maritime Organization (IMO) has approved a USD 100 per tonne carbon dioxide shipping fee from 2027, expected to generate USD 13 billion. France, Spain, Kenya, and Barbados plan levies on premium flyers and private jets, which could add over USD 100 billion yearly for climate to the PIK study, cooperative levies on fossil fuels could raise USD 66 billion every year for financing emission reduction efforts in low and middle-income the scope to include pricing emissions from international aviation and maritime shipping could push contributions to USD 200 billion annually."Governments are facing tightening fiscal space and are grappling with the question of where the money for international climate finance will come from. Smaller coalitions of countries cooperating on different kinds of levies could go a long way to solve the problem, without extra cost to consumers," said PIK Director and lead author Ottmar study explores scenarios where countries act in their own interest but cooperate on fossil fuel levies and channel the revenues to support energy transition in developing finds that if the European Union makes the levy rates conditional on other countries joining, large importers like China would have an incentive to one scenario, the EU-China cooperation would quadruple the climate finance raised by each compared to acting alone. Such collaboration would also benefit consumers by lowering global fuel prices, offsetting any price increases from the study estimates that with the EU-China cooperation, developing countries could receive USD 66 billion annually to reduce fossil fuel use, including USD 33 billion in net damages from climate impacts could be worth USD 78 billion, with an additional USD 19 billion saved on fossil fuel prices each funding from these levies could also cut emissions by more than a billion tonnes of CO2 annually, exceeding Germany's current researchers say this approach offers a model for funding global public goods."Our analysis strongly suggests that coalitions to raise funds for global public good provision would be a win-win. We show by pairing targeted spending of these levies on international climate finance, benefits can be shared by all," said Matthias Kalkuhl, one of the study's study is part of the project "ODA in the Mutual Interest of Donors and Recipients", funded by the Gates Foundation and coordinated by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
