20 December, 2011

Durban Climate talks and Frozen Planet

The Durban Climate talks and BBC's amazing documentary Frozen Planet ended about 2 weeks ago. Whether or not it was a coincidence or a well-timed meeting of the two, both events highlight the current popular discourse i.e. global warming. 

In the early hours on a Sunday the 11th of December 2011, a breakthrough was declared after the Durban climate conference went into extra time after stalemates threaten another failure and a global climate change treaty was proclaimed to be on the horizon. The talks mediated by Connie Hedegaard, the EU climate chief, who is also 'the architect of the EU plan' managed to bring

'developed and developing economies together for the first time in a legally binding agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions'. This deal is deemed a success for it also meets the aims of the EU, most developing countries and USA was 'brought on board'. For me, one of the more outstanding points of this deal is that the distinction between developing and developed countries has been largely eradicated, thus the both are subjected to the same legal commitments to curbing emissions.

While this does mark a huge progress (look at Copenhagen '09 when China stormed out of talks = epic failure) in that countries are taking a step away from shirking their responsibilities, the deal itself is not stringent enough and all in all, seems like a token gesture from governments to scientists and environmental groups. While UK's climate secretary Chris Huhne called this deal a 'significant step forward', environmental groups and scientists called it an 'empty shell of a plan' and 'failed to show ambition necessary to cut emissions... to avoid dangerous climate change'. If you want to read more of the reactions to the climate deal, the Guardian's article on 'Durban climate deal: the verdict' sums it up quite nicely. 


And then in that same week, on a the 7th of December, Frozen Planet aired its last (controversial to some) episode called 'On Thin Ice'. I didn't watch episodes 3 to 6 mainly because Frozen Planet did seem to have most of its focus on cute cuddly animals. But I did catch the last episode because it focusses on the effect of global warming at the poles and what could and is already happening to the ecosystems. It can already be observed the changes in the walruses' behaviours and migrations of penguins and other mammals who prefer warmer or colder waters into and deeper into the Antarctic. One video shot caught my eye. It was a spectacular view of the disintegration of one of a major ice shelf. Huge chunks of the shelf came apart, looking like jigsaw puzzle pieces. They were thick and long and wide enough for the helicopter David Attenborough was in to land on them safely!

After this episode was aired on BBC and also in America, global warming naysayers immediately had something to say about them. According to Christopher Booker, 'On Thin Ice' was full of bias-ness. Nigel Lawson called it 'patronising' on the Radio Times. Strangely enough, Booker and Lawson's wording in their pieces seems to me to be much more biased, where words such as 'preaching', 'climate change gospel' instantly puts a doubtful cast on this discourse. Lawson's every rebuttal to the points about global warming was refuted by Dr Mark Brandon. He clearly explains the importance of observing the ice thickness and not just its extent and puts right Lawson's claims of increasing polar bear populations and clearly states that global mean temperature is not polar mean temperature. 

Coming to a conclusion, Durban platform might have spelt significant progress on tackling climate change but more still needs to be done to prevent global mean temperatures from increasing beyond 4 degrees , much less hitting the 2 degrees temperature change target. The clear lack of ambition by countries to commit themselves to curbing emissions enough to prevent disastrous climate change is already showing at the poles. While the increase in polar mean temperatures is not reflective of the global mean temperature, it still shows us that the climate is warming much more rapidly than it would have naturally. If we see ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula breaking up now, what more can we expect in the future if climate talks remain stagnant or if progress is not fast enough? 

Do read David Attenborough's reflections after he visited the poles. He gives his firsthand insight after seeing for himself the changes undergoing there. It may provide better understanding for you about the effects of global warming.

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