Urgent climate deal

More frequent floods, storms, heat waves, and droughts are connected to greater extremes in temperatures and rainfall, according to Global Increase in Climate-Related Disasters, a new study. In a global analysis spanning the last four decades, the study shows that the rise in climate-related disasters is linked not only to people’s increased exposure and vulnerability, but also to changes in temperature and rainfall resulting from rising greenhouse gases. This finding is timely given the recent warnings by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other climate monitors that global temperature is already halfway to the “two degree warming” threshold for limiting catastrophic climatic impacts. These findings add fresh urgency to reaching strong agreements to cut emissions at the United Nations climate change meetings in Paris in December. Climate impacts are not just concerns for the distant future, but are already being felt... — blogs.adb.org/blog