Johan Rockstrom is one of the world’s most influential Earth scientists. As director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, he advises governments, corporations and advocates, including his Swedish compatriot Greta Thunberg, about the latest research on the climate and biodiversity and argues for better science communication.
Last year, he coedited <i>Standing Up for a Sustainable World</i>, a book that brought together essays from climatologists, economists, environmental defenders, financiers and school strikers. Over the past few months, he has teamed up with David Attenborough to create a new Netflix series, <i>Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet</i>, participated in US
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New climate predictions increase likelihood of temporarily reaching 1.5 °C in next 5 years
Geneva, 27 May 2021 (WMO) – There is about a 40% chance of the annual average global temperature temporarily reaching 1.5°C above the pre industrial levels in at least one of the next five years – and these odds are increasing with time, according to a new climate update issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
There is a 90% likelihood of at least one year between 2021-2025 becoming the warmest on record, which would dislodge 2016 from the top ranking, according to the Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update, produced by the United Kingdom’s Met Office, the WMO lead centre for such predictions.
Civil Defence Force personnel evacuating villagers from Kampung Sinar Budi Baru in Kuching, Sarawak, in February 2021. Severe weather events will only increase as the climate crisis worsens. －ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE/The Star
Thunderstorms in the tropics don’t make a news story, but when they seem so relentless, and rage with such an extreme edge, it makes me wonder: Is this really normal? One thunderstorm last month even smashed the glass panel of a building in Kuala Lumpur, raining glass on people inside.
I wonder, too, about flood disasters which we’ve seen almost every year in the last several years. And what about scorching hot days, which seem to be ever more frequent? The weather does feel hotter than a few decades ago. I don’t recall such blistering heat growing up as a child in KL. Back then, I’d sit comfortably in my parents’ car with no air-conditioning, just the breeze from open windows – but there were no traffic jams to melt in then.
What’s new? In 2019, Nigerian authorities launched a ten-year National Livestock Transformation Plan to curtail the movement of cattle, boost livestock production and quell the country’s lethal herder-farmer conflict. But inadequate political leadership, delays, funding uncertainties and a lack of expertise could derail the project. COVID-19 has exacerbated the challenges.
Why did it happen? Violence fuelled by environmental degradation and competition over land has aggravated long-running tensions in the country’s northern and central regions. A surge in bloodshed in 2018 prompted Nigeria’s federal government to formulate a far-reaching set of reforms for the livestock sector.
Why does it matter? The new Plan represents Nigeria’s most comprehensive strategy yet to encourage pastoralists to switch to ranching and other sedentary livestock production systems. Modernising the livestock sector is key to resolving the herder-farmer conflict, which threatens Nigeria’s