24/7 Space News
CLIMATE SCIENCE
France prepares for dramatic warming scenario; UK urged to set 'ambitious' targets
France prepares for dramatic warming scenario; UK urged to set 'ambitious' targets
by AFP Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) Oct 25, 2024

Temperatures in mainland France are on track to increase by four degrees Celsius by 2100 due to global warming, the government warned Friday, urging coping strategies for a much hotter country.

A report presented by Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Friday said that uncertainties surrounding the longevity of greenhouse gases made estimates beyond 2050 hazardous.

The publication came nearly a decade after Paris hosted the landmark 2015 Climate Change Conference, which adopted a legally binding treaty to limit global warming.

But based on scientific evidence, the 2015 targets of keeping the increase as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels will already be overshot in the early 2030s, the PNACC national climate change adaptation report said.

"Respecting the Paris accord remains the target," the report said. "But in the face of the risk of overshooting those targets it is necessary to prepare for global warming of four percent in 2100."

The world as a whole is on track for a median temperature increase of 3.2 Celsius by the end of the century, it said.

But mainland France, "which is heating up faster than other parts of the world", is projected to see an average temperature rise of two degrees in 2030, 2.7 degrees by 2050 and four degrees by 2100 on the basis of current commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

"This figure may seem abstract, but the consequences of this warming curve for our society are extremely concrete," the report said.

This scenario gives the government "a robust warming trajectory" on which to base its policies, it said.

Average temperatures will rise, heatwaves will become longer and more intense, there will be extreme flooding and extreme droughts and sea levels will rise.

Water management issues and soil erosion are among major expected challenges, it said.

If nothing is done, France's gross domestic product (GDP) risks dropping by 10 points by 2100. The agriculture sector would lose one billion euros ($1.1 billion) every year by 2050, and 500,000 homes would come under threat because of a receding coastline by the end of the century, the report said.

The government's plan contains 51 measures to protect the population, insure against risk, adapt human activity, protect natural and cultural spaces, and mobilise public services.

The plan will be updated regularly, it said.

UK govt urged to set 'ambitious' climate action target
London (AFP) Oct 25, 2024 - UK government advisers on Saturday urged ministers to set an "ambitious" target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81 percent by 2035 to combat climate change.

The last Conservative government in 2020 set a goal of 68 percent emission cuts on 1990 levels by 2030.

But the nation's top climate change advisory body said earlier this year that "only six years away, the country is not on track to hit this target" and urged the new Labour government to step up its efforts.

In a letter Saturday to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said the 81-percent target was "deliverable" and "informed by the latest science, technological developments, and the UK's national circumstances".

But it added: "Setting a target is not enough. The UK must back up its international commitments through actions here at home."

The committee said in July only around one-third of the emissions reductions the UK needed to make were currently covered by credible plans -- mostly in the electricity supply and surface transport sectors.

Labour, which won power in July, is due to unveil its climate plans under the global Paris Agreement, which requires countries to take action to mitigate the worst impacts of global warming.

The legally binding international treaty on climate change, signed in 2016, aims to keep global average temperature rises "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels.

It also pushes to limit warming to 1.5C -- seen as the threshold beyond which the worst impacts of climate change will be felt.

- Call for action -

Countries are due to submit new five-year proposals to cover the period 2025 to 2035 ahead of COP30 in Brazil next December.

To meet the 1.5C target, the world's carbon emissions must fall to net zero by 2050.

Four years ago, the UK Conservative government set a goal of 68 percent emission cuts by 2030 compared with 1990 levels, which was in line with the CCC's advice at the time.

Environmental groups welcomed the committee's latest recommendation but urged the government to go even further.

"The Climate Change Committee has given ministers a useful benchmark for climate action but they may want to aim higher to show true global leadership and take full responsibility for the UK's historic role as a major carbon polluter," said Doug Parr, policy director at Greenpeace UK,

"Actions speak louder than words, and true leadership means the government must also set out tangible plans to deliver on its 2035 target," he added.

Isabella O'Dowd, WWF's head of climate policy, also called on the government to "show global leadership by going further and adopt climate targets for international aviation and shipping".

"Acting now will revitalise the UK economy, increase our energy security and support a just transition for all sectors," she said.

- Heat pumps -

The CCC previously urged action "across all sectors of the economy", laying out 10 recommendations including a mass roll-out of heat pumps and a far wider use of electric vehicles.

Everywhere, low-carbon technologies "must become the norm", while in UK energy production should move away from oil and gas, it said in its annual report in July.

Committee member Corinne Le Quere, a climatologist at the University of East Anglia, said the UK had achieved a nearly 50 percent fall in emissions, but action was needed across the board.

"The UK has focused a lot on the decarbonisation of its electricity network, exiting coal and the deployment of renewable energies, particularly wind power. But we haven't had enough attention paid to other sectors of the economy," she told AFP.

"The government really needs to diversify its measures so that the entire economy is decarbonised."

The UK's last coal-fired power station officially closed at the end of September -- a first among G7 nations.

Labour has said it wants to decarbonise the energy mix further, investing heavily in offshore and onshore wind, tidal power and nuclear.

Related Links
Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
CLIMATE SCIENCE
Google urged to step up efforts to demonetize climate falsehoods
Washington (AFP) Oct 24, 2024
Civil society groups implored Google on Thursday to rigorously enforce its policy to demonetize environmental disinformation, saying ads placed alongside climate denial content persistently popped up despite the tech titan's pledge to crack down. The open letter, addressed to Google chief Sundar Pichai and endorsed by thousands of signatories, comes in the wake of major hurricanes in the United States sparking an avalanche of disinformation and just weeks before the UN COP29 climate summit. In 2 ... read more

CLIMATE SCIENCE
SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts undock from ISS, begin journey home to Earth

Don't let tech gurus decide the future: Nobel winner Simon Johnson

NASA continues to assess Solar Sail system progress following deployment

Space-ng Introduces AstroVision at Silicon Valley Space Week

CLIMATE SCIENCE
US Space Force awards SpaceX over $733M for national security launch services

Southern Launch and Varda secure Australian approval for spacecraft re-entry at Koonibba Test Range

Space Force Funds $35M Space Propulsion Institute Led by U-M

Rocket Lab Adds Mission to 2024 Launch Schedule, Prepares for Launch in Days

CLIMATE SCIENCE
USTC unveils high-energy Mars battery with extended lifespan for exploration

NASA selects crew for 45-day simulated Mars mission in Houston

Potential microbial habitats in Martian ice

Perseverance just keeps roving across Mars

CLIMATE SCIENCE
China to launch 14th manned mission to Tiangong Space Station

China sets ambitious space science development goals through 2050

China successfully retrieves first reusable test satellite Shijian-19

China unveils new lunar spacesuit design ahead of moon mission

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Eutelsat America and OneWeb to provide Enhanced Satellite Services for US Govt

SpaceX launches OneWeb 20 mission

Intelsat expands satellite backhaul services in Nigeria and West Africa

China deploys 18 new satellites for Spacesail network

CLIMATE SCIENCE
India's green fashion lovers switch to secondhand

Advances in 3D-printed concrete boost strength, durability, and eco-friendly potential

Radiation belt exploration boosted by smallsat constellation mission CORBES

Successful test could lead to discovery of element 120

CLIMATE SCIENCE
SwRI and JPL study reveals liquid brine flows on airless worlds

It's twins mystery of famed brown dwarf solved

Astronomers Use New Technique to Search for Alien Signals Between Planets

Using AI to find the smallest and closest exoplanets around sun-like stars

CLIMATE SCIENCE
NASA and SpaceX Set for Europa Clipper Launch on October 14

NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon

Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate

NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.