The prospect of increased weather extremes in Australia caused by a warming climate will feature prominently in an around-the-clock global webcast to be kicked off and concluded by former US vice-president Al Gore.
The 24 Hours of Reality: the Dirty Weather Report is the second annual event aimed at highlighting how climate change is already affecting every region of the world, with the likelihood of worsening extremes as fossil fuel burning raises greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.
Mr Gore will launch the panel from New York at noon, Sydney and Melbourne time, with Australia featured over two hours, starting from 8pm, AEDT.
“The emphasis of the Australian panel will be dirty weather in Australia, increases in temperature and hot extremes in Australia and their impacts on increasing the frequency of extreme fire weather, and impacts on the Great Barrier Reef and other natural systems,” David Karoly, a professor of meteorology at the University of Melbourne, said.
“Australia is one of the biggest contributors to the causes of dirty weather, as it has the highest per person emissions of greenhouse gases among all developed countries,” he said. “It also exports large amounts of fossil fuels to other countries, coal and natural gas, which also cause more dirty weather but are not counted in Australia's emissions.”
Others on the panel during the Australian session include Fiona Armstrong, founder of the Climate and Health Alliance; Don Henry, chief executive of the Australian Conservation Foundation; and Ken Thompson, a risk management consultant and former New South Wales deputy fire commissioner.
While scientists generally downplay the link between any single weather event and a warming climate, interest in the connection has intensified in recent months, particularly in the US.
The country endured its worst drought in decades, sending global food prices higher. Last month's superstorm, which devastated large parts of the US north-east just days before the US elections, also rekindled interest in climate change - an issue largely absent from the political debates to that point.
Re-elected US President Barack Obama told his first media conference overnight that melting ice caps and increasing global temperatures are signs climate change is real and that he will seek to mitigate the damage from the phenomenon.
The impact of a warming globe will be costly, and steps to cut carbon in the atmosphere will also require big investments. As a result, confronting climate change will be a difficult political undertaking, President Obama said.
"You can expect that you will hear more from me in the coming months and years about how we can shape an agenda that garners bipartisan support," the President said.
Last year's Climate Reality webcast drew 8.6 million views over the internet worldwide.
Adam Majcher, acting manager for The Climate Reality Project in Australia, said the timing this year was also important with international climate talks to begin in Doha, Qatar, later this month.
“Without countries bringing strong commitments to the table in Doha, we're setting ourselves on a course to expose ourselves to these extreme weather events more frequently,” Mr Majcher said.
“During the 24 hours, we will ask people to sign a pledge and join a global movement to demand action,” he said.
For more information, visit the Climate Reality website.
- with Reuters
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