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ePaper created 2015-12-01, 11:33:23 | version 1.43.00
IN FOCUS akzente 3/1518 Perhaps it’s no bad thing that the patient’s temperature has suddenly soared again, with 2015 on track to be a new record year for global warming. The supposed global warming hiatus may well end this year, at least unofficially, along with the stalemate in the climate process. The reason is not hard to find. El Niño (the name means ‘Christ Child’ in Spanish) – a weather phenomenon recurring every few years and characterised by a rush of unusually warm water in the central and eastern Pacific – is creating more warm air masses, sending global average temperatures soaring. This is causing more extreme weather across the globe, with flooding in the western regions of South America and droughts already starting across much of Australia. Although not entirely unconnected to climate change, El Niño is undoubtedly an anomaly – one of many cyclical natural phenomena that have been occur ring over millennia. Global warming has paused – or has it? So is greenhouse gas-induced global warming still in hi- atus? There is little evidence of that at present. Recent studies have revealed that the unexpected pause is tem- porary – or even illusory, for researchers have discovered discrepancies between older ship-based measurements of sea temperatures and more recent buoy-based measure- ments. It seems that much of the surplus energy that drives atmospheric warming via the greenhouse effect is sequestered in the deep sea. In other words, the heat is simply stored there for the time being. Scientists predict that, sooner or later, the ocean’s biological pump will transport this heat back to the surface, where it will warm up the atmosphere. But these new findings make no difference to cli- mate researchers’ projections. Global average temper ature has increased by about 0.85° C since the late 19th century, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) anticipates a further temperature rise of between 1.5° C and 4° C by 2100. The primary driver is the unabated emission of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide (CO2 ), from the burning of fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas. This year, the global concentration of the trace gas CO2 in the atmosphere reached 400 parts per million (ppm) for an extended period for the first time since records began – an increase of more than 40 per cent since the start of industrialisation, and, it is thought, higher than at any time in the previous 800,000 years. ENERGY EFFICIENCY Project: Energy efficiency in the construction sector in the Mediterranean Commissioned by: European Commission Lead executing agencies: Energy ministries and energy agencies in various MENA countries Term: 2006 to 2016 MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES GIZ is supporting Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian territories and Tunisia in their efforts to create a more enabling environment for energy efficiency in the construction sector. It is also working with partners to identify potential for more intensive renewable energy use. www.giz.de/international-services/en/html/1749.html 1 EXAMPLES OF WORK AT GIZ FOREST CONSERVATION Project: Sustainable forest management and protection from deforestation Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development Lead executing agency: Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry Term: 2009 to 2020 INDONESIA Indonesia has some of the world’s most extensive and biologically diverse tropical rainforests. This project aims to protect the forests and provide adequate income-generating opportunities for their users. Forests sequester carbon dioxide, so their conservation helps to protect the climate. www.giz.de/en/worldwide/16728.html PHOTO:DPA/SEBASTIANSILVA(Page19)