Climate change is here now and it could lead to global conflict
Nicholas Stern
▻http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/13/storms-floods-climate-change-upon-us-lord-stern
In fact, the risks are even bigger than I realised when I was working on the review of the economics of climate change for the UK government in 2006. Since then, annual greenhouse gas emissions have increased steeply and some of the impacts, such as the decline of Arctic sea ice, have started to happen much more quickly.
We also underestimated the potential importance of strong feedbacks, such as the thawing of the permafrost to release #methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, as well as tipping points beyond which some changes in the climate may become effectively irreversible.
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The lack of vision and political will from the leaders of many developed countries is not just harming their long-term competitiveness, but is also endangering efforts to create international co-operation and reach a new agreement that should be signed in Paris in December 2015.