14th November 2021
So COP26 in Glasgow comes to an end amid disappointment and recrimination, particularly over the significance of the requested last-minute changes to the agreement from India and China. Compromise resulted in references to the “phase down” and not the “phase out” of coal power. But did we really expect anything much different?
The summit’s overall goal was to chart a path to keep global warming limited to 1.5 ºC and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. That has not been achieved.
The informal phrase ‘to cop out’ – to avoid doing something that one ought to do – is too obvious not to use. I’m surprised that I haven’t seen other media articles doing so.
A BBC News online article by Matt McGrath provides a short and balanced overview of the agreement:
There are some positives but also negatives. The article concludes:
“The agreement will help revive the sense of international collaboration that’s been badly damaged in recent years by nationalist tendencies around the world.
And ultimately, this pact – flawed and late as it may be – does keep the flame of hope alive that temperatures may be held in check, somewhere between 1.8C and 2.4C this century.
But that’s a frightening prospect in a world that’s warmed by just over half that amount already, with massive impacts around the globe.
The sad reality, as with record Chinese coal production, is that the atmosphere only responds to emissions, and not decisions made in a conference like COP26.”
One of the consequences of a warming atmosphere is the likelihood of increases in the frequency and magnitude of hydrological extremes such as flash floods. In recent years, we have already seen the impacts of flash flooding on rivers, floodplains, ecosystems and communities in many places around the world, from humid to more arid settings and in rural and urban locations. Improved management of flash floods requires an interdisciplinary approach, with specialists from many different scientific disciplines working alongside each other in an attempt to address common problems. Increasingly, scientific disciplinary specialists are working in wider teams that include local communities, health professionals, and environmental managers and policymakers to develop sustainable management practices. Raising awareness of the factors causing flash floods, their key characteristics, and their varied impacts has to form part of these approaches.
As part of a project looking at flash flooding in Jordan, colleagues and I have produced a colour booklet that provides an overview of flash floods. We hope that this booklet and associated activities (e.g. lectures, workshops) may contribute to this awareness raising.
The associated infographic provides a summary of the 10 points that everyone should know about flash floods. The colour booklet can be downloaded from the Wetlands in Drylands Research Network website:
wetlandsindrylands.net/downloads-2
The booklet is aimed primarily at water industry professionals, and higher education students and their instructors, but undoubtedly can be customised for other audiences.
stephentooth 