Meanwhile, Russia rejected a Security Council statement backed by Western nations which asserted the link, but later agreed to a weaker text. The Russian envoy said he was sceptical about the implications of putting climate change on the security council's agenda. Security Council members finally agreed to a text which spoke of the "possible security implications" of climate change.
An increase in the frequency of natural disasters across the globe could prove a major challenge in the coming decades. Recent crises, such as in Somalia, illustrate that "our capacity to handle these kinds of events is proving a challenge, particularly if they occur simultaneously and start affecting, for instance, global food markets, regional food security issues, displacing people, creating refugees across borders. Clearly the international community - if the scenarios in climate change for the future come true - will face an expediential growth of these kinds of extreme events." More than 10 million people have been affected by the crisis across east Africa.
His comments came as the Security Council formally debated the environment for the first time in four years, with Germany pressing for the first-ever council statement linking climate change to global peace and security.
Diplomats said there were intense negotiations between Germany and Russia, which initially opposed any council action, before a statement on the issue was agreed to. The Russian envoy argued that the move was unnecessary and opposed by many countries. "We believe that involving the Security Council in a regular review of the issue of climate change will not bring any added value whatsoever and will merely lead to further increased politicisation of this issue and increased disagreements between countries."
However, the US Ambassador said that the council had an "essential responsibility to address the clear-cut peace and security implications of a changing climate" and said all countries should be demanding action. She also called failed attempts to reach consensus earlier in the day "pathetic" and "shortsighted".
The final statement expressed "concern that possible adverse effects of climate change may, in the long run, aggravate certain existing threats to international peace and security". It also requested the UN Secretary-General to include information on possible climate change impacts in his regular reports on global trouble-spots. The council had failed to agree on whether climate change was an issue of world peace in 2007, when Britain brought up the issue.
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.0 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
5.0 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
5.0 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
Yesterday -
7/20/11 -
6.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
5.3 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
5.3 SOUTH OF PANAMA
Uzbekistan quake killed at least 13 - The 6.2 quake killed at least 13 people and wounded dozens as it tore down old houses in a remote border region in Central Asia's volatile Fergana Valley. The quake struck at 1:35 am (1935 GMT Tuesday).
VOLCANOES -
Alert level raised for volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands - The alert level for an Alaska volcano is being raised after officials say PERSISTENT THERMAL ANOMALIES have been spotted in satellite data. The Alaska Volcano Observatory on Wednesday raised the level Cleveland Volcano to advisory from unassigned. .There is no real-time seismic network at the volcano, located 939 miles southwest of Anchorage on an uninhabited island. Officials are not able to track local earthquake activity related to volcanic unrest. Short-lived explosions with ash clouds or plumes exceeding 20,000 feet above sea level are frequent on Cleveland. It last showed signs of unrest last summer, with a small ash emission and lava flows on its upper flanks. The observatory says the last significant eruption of the volcano began in February 2001 and eventually produced a lava flow that reached the ocean.
TROPICAL STORMS -
-CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE 04E (DORA) CONTINUES WEST-NORTHWESTWARD OFF THE WESTERN SHORE OF MEXICO. FAST WEAKENING IS EXPECTED AFTER TWO DAYS AS DORA EXPLORES THE COLDER WATERS OF THE EASTERN PACIFIC.
-Tropical Storm BRET is weakening in the Atlantic. NORTHERLY SHEAR OVER BRET IS BRUTAL AND DISSIPATION IS NOW EXPECTED BY 48 HOURS.
-Tropical Storm CINDY is A LITTLE STRONGER AND MOVING QUICKLY NORTHEASTWARD OVER THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC. CINDY IS EMBEDDED WITHIN THE SAME STRONG SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW THAT WILL BE CAUSING TROPICAL STORM BRET TO ACCELERATE NORTHEASTWARD.
-TROPICAL STORM 08W (MA-ON) was LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 245 NM SOUTH OF YOKOSUKA, JAPAN.
EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / WILDFIRES / CLIMATE CHANGE -
Deadly Heat Wave Moves Toward Northeast U.S. - A blistering, eastern-moving band of heat hovering over the Plains and southern United States has killed two dozen people this week, and forecasters expect it to scorch the Northeast in the coming days.
Climate Reality Project - Al Gore is turning to the intersection of digital media and extreme weather to launch a new social movement around fighting climate change. It’s called the Climate Reality Project, and the first event will live stream content that shows how extreme weather has affected people’s lives. The event will take place on September 14 and 15. The 24-7 Internet and news cycle of extreme weather events, combined with social media, could potentially finally offer the spark needed for a green web movement around fighting climate change.
End of the world or just a bit too hot? - This week, the temperature in central Russia reached +37° Celsius. Weather forecasts for the next few days don’t promise temperatures lower than +33° C. Yakutia is a region in Siberia which is known for its severe winters and short but very hot summers. However, this summer, Yakuts saw an ABSOLUTE RECORD OF HEAT - +38.4° C. The heat caused forest fires all over the region, which, in spite of all the firemen’s brave efforts, have not been fully put out yet.
Still, it is even hotter in central and eastern states of the US – nearly +40° C, and the heat is threatening to hit Washington and New York. But Canada can “boast” of BREAKING EVEN THIS RECORD – at daytime, the temperature there exceeds + 40° C. In the US, the heat is also dramatized by excessive humidity. Moreover, frequent thunderstorms in some states have already killed 13 people in the last week.
At the same time, southern and western China is hit by showers and storms. Since the beginning of June, about 500 people in these regions have been killed or are missing. About 3 million people have been evacuated from the zone of the calamity. Last weekend, the airport in Beijing, which is, by the way, the world’s largest one, had to postpone several hundred flights. Summer rains and floods are not rare in China, but this year’s disaster is UNPRECEDENTED.
Some experts explain all these cataclysms with the global warming. The Deputy Director of the Russian state weather service does not agree with this: “We still cannot fully explain these phenomena, but, I believe, there is nothing supernatural in them. As for the global warming, we still have no sufficient proof that all these hurricanes and typhoons are really provoked by the warming...We explain this by the natural climatic volatility of atmospheric processes. Any other explanations sound like fiction. Some hold that global warning increases the repetition and intensity of such dangerous weather phenomena as heat waves, hurricanes and typhoons. But so far, there is no convincing proof that the above processes are interrelated." He is sure that for all the heat of this summer, it will not break last year’s records. True, it is really hard to beat last summer’s heat record of + 38.2° C – something which has NEVER BEFORE BEEN REGISTERED FOR THE WHOLE 130-YEAR HISTORY of weather service in Russia.
