Photo: Flickr.com / Luca Sartoni CC BY-SA

A 1.5°C target is needed to save the Mediterranean region

Climate change is a threat to the Mediterranean sea and surrounding countries. This is featured in a recent short documentary produced by AirClim and SEE.NET.

The Mediterranean region is expected to see “particularly strong increases in dryness” in a 2°C world compared to a 1.5°C world and is threatened by ocean acidification, says the new IPCC 1.5°C report. Several other scientific reports show that the region will suffer from 1–2°C global warming and that climate change is already a security risk. An expert group including the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) – warns of security risks as a result of the effects on more than 50 million people in Iraq and Syria due to prolonged heat waves, erratic precipitation, higher than average temperatures and increased disaster intensity. Similar threats exist for many countries around the Medirerranean sea, e.g. in Turkey and in Spain. Other scientists from the region warn that if global CO2 emissions into the atmosphere continue unabated, future ocean acidification and increased water temperatures pose a threat to the Mediterranean Sea and will negatively impact its biodiversity and productivity, and in turn impact key social and economic services it provides to human communities in the region (e.g. shellfish aquaculture, fisheries and tourism). Another recently published study warns of rising sea levels threatening some of the planet’s most valuable historic sites that are located in the region and could by 2100 face damage or outright destruction in a warming world. The scientists who surveyed 49 world heritage sites in the Mediterranean report that 47 of them are at some degree of risk from future sea level rise.

The IPCC 1.5°C special report confirms many of these threats for the region: “the level of ocean acidification due to increasing CO₂ concentrations associated with global warming of 1.5°C is projected to amplify the adverse effects of warming, and even further at 2°C, impacting the growth, development, calcification, survival, and thus abundance of a broad range of species, e.g., from algae to fish”. For 39 plant species in the Mediterranean region, shifts in phenology, range contraction, health decline have been observed because of precipitation decrease and temperature increase. The report finds that only if global warming is constrained to 1.5°C can biome shifts unprecedented in the last 10,000 years be avoided – whilst 2°C warming results in a decrease of 12–15 per cent in the Mediterranean biome area.

Environmental NGOs in south-eastern Europe are very concerned about the effects of climate change in the region. Friends of the Earth Croatia (Zelena Akcija) is cooperating closely with SEE.NET, a network of south-eastern European environmental CSOs on natural resources, energy and transport, which includes most environmental organisations in the Balkan region. In a short film produced by AirClim/SEE.NET, members of SEE.NET express their concerns and demands about climate change during a seminar at Zelena Akcija’s Solar Academy on the island of Šolta in Croatia, and two marine biologists from the University of Barcelona and Split explain in the film the threats to fisheries from ocean acidification and climate change.

Reinhold Pape

Link to film: http://airclim.org/medsea-film-1
Source:
Climate news network, 12 November 2018, Iraq’s climate stresses are set to worsen, https://climatenewsnetwork.net/iraqs-climate-stresses-are-set-to-worsen/
Climate news network, 25 October 2018, Historic sites face risk from rising seas, https://climatenewsnetwork.net/historic-sites-face-risk-from-rising-seas/
Spiegel online, 17 October 2018, Versinken Ferrara und Venedig im Meer? http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/unesco-welterbe-staetten-durch-...
Impacts of ocean acidification in a warming Mediterranean Sea: An overview https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290392146

In this issue

EU needs net zero emissions by 2040

In order to stay within the limited carbon budget that is left, the EU will need to reduce its domestic greenhouse gas emissions by at least 3 per cent per year.

Editorial: Call for Europe to phase out coal by 2025

As a result of the latest extremely alarming scientific findings from the IPCC and WMO, all European countries need to stop using coal for energy production by 2025 and thus avoid large emissions of carbon dioxide.

Ship emissions debated

A ban on carrying high-sulphur fuel oil aboard ships not equipped with scrubbers has been finally adopted by the IMO, but there was no significant progress on agreeing measures to cut ships’ carbon emissions.

What goes up must come down

Over the last decade the downward trend in emissions has flattened out – some countries are even reporting increasing emissions of ammonia and particulate matter.

Levels of long-lived greenhouse gases rose again in 2017

The level of CO₂ today is similar to that 3–5 million years ago, when the temperature was 2–3°C warmer and the sea level was 10–20 metres higher than now.

Limiting global warming to 1.5°C is possible

Climate Action Network evaluates the IPCC’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C for the Talanoa Dialogue.

Harmful air pollution levels still much too high

Air pollution remains the largest environmental health risk in Europe. Despite slow improvements, it is still responsible for more than 400,000 premature deaths every year.

Phasing out coal in Europe

Elements for a plan to phase out coal by 2025 are presented.

Cut methane to reduce ozone

Global action to reduce methane emissions could by 2050 avoid 70,000 to 130,000 annual premature deaths due to ozone pollution globally, and 6,000 to 11,000 in the EU alone.

Citizens support diesel bans to tackle air pollution

Two-thirds of EU citizens support the introduction of low-emission zones banning polluting cars from city centres, according to a recent survey.

EU auditors urge tougher action on air quality

Air pollution rules are still too weak and most EU governments are failing to meet current air quality requirements, says a damning report by EU auditors.

Climate targets for trucks and cars in the making

The European Parliament is pushing for more ambitious CO₂ standards for cars and lorries by 2030. Though even more cuts are needed to decarbonise the vehicle fleet by 2050.

Livestock sector must contract

Numbers of farm animals in the European Union are not within a “safe operating space” for the climate and nitrogen, states a new report from the RISE foundation.

European lunches leave carbon footprints overseas

Around 30 per cent of greenhouse gases from EU food consumption are emitted in other regions, mainly Latin America, Asia and Africa.

1.5°C is the new 2°C

In the wake of the IPCC publishing their 1.5°C report the global press calls for quick action.