Latest news with #ColumbiaClimateSchool
Euronews
2 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
Two European countries in ‘red zone' of climate finance vulnerability
A new index has identified the countries most vulnerable to climate shocks. More than two billion people live in 'red zone' nations, where the risk of a major hazard or disaster is high and access to finance is dwindling, it reveals. Two-thirds of the 65 nations in this most at-risk list are in Africa, but it also includes two in Europe: Cyprus and Ukraine. Built by Columbia Climate School in the US with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Climate Finance (CliF) VulnerabilityIndex is intended to provide more comprehensive risk assessments, and ultimately help direct aid to those who need it most. How does debt increase climate vulnerability? 'Climate shocks are becoming more frequent and intense, yet many of the nations facing the highest threats are also heavily indebted, limiting their access to financial markets,' says Jeff Schlegelmilch, Associate Professor of Professional Practice of Climate and Director of the National Centre for Disaster Preparedness at the Columbia Climate School. Heatwaves, floods, cyclones, droughts and other extreme events are all on the rise as the climate heats up. Though predictions are rife with uncertainties, these climate disasters could result in more than 14.5 million deaths and $12.5 trillion (around €10.7 trillion) in global economic losses by 2050, according to the World Economic Forum. Meanwhile the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that the annual adaptation financing gap - the amount countries need to adapt to climate change - could be as much as $387 billion (€331 billion) a year. At the same time, high borrowing costs and limited access to finance keep many nations trapped in a cycle of climate disaster response and recovery, the researchers say, unable to really advance their climate mitigation and adaptation. 'Traditional aid models based on GDP per capita or income level don't capture the unique and growing risks of climate exposure along with limited access to capital to manage these risks,' adds Schlegelmilch. 'The CliF Vulnerability Index provides a more realistic picture of risk, including the access to financing to address climate vulnerabilities.' Eric Pelofsky, Vice President for Global Economic Recovery at The Rockefeller Foundation, says the index is an important conversation-starter, on the eve of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville next week. 'By using the CliF Vulnerability Index, donors and funders can prioritise support for countries that are potentially living one disaster away from crisis.' Why are Cyprus and Ukraine 'red zone' nations? The Red Zone is dominated by countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which comprise 43 (66 per cent) of the 65 countries in the danger area where climate vulnerability and financial weakness overlap. The index makes four forecasts per country: using a 2050 or 2080 timeline, as well as 'optimistic' and 'pessimistic' climate scenarios. 10 African nations appear in the bottom 10 countries across all four scenarios: Angola, Burundi, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Lesotho, Malawi, South Sudan, Sudan, and Zambia. Saliem Fakir, Executive Director of The African Climate Foundation, says the index complements its own work advocating for 'more systemic approaches to adaptation in Africa for countries suffering by high debt distress.' Ukraine and Cyprus also appear in the red zone; Cyprus in the 2050 optimistic, 2050 pessimistic, and 2080 pessimistic scenarios. Ukraine in 2050 optimistic and 2080 optimistic scenarios. This is primarily due to non-climate hazards, which are nonetheless included in the data. Cyprus is prone to earthquakes, while conflict in Ukraine makes it vulnerable. These factors impact disaster management, climate adaptation systems and pressures on finance, a spokesperson for Columbia Climate School and Rockefeller Foundation explains. European nations are better represented among the list of nations best equipped to deal with climate shocks. Eight of these top 10 countries are OECD members, and half are in Europe: Denmark, Estonia, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, as well as South Korea, Japan and the US.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Scientists unveil groundbreaking tool that could change how we prepare for weather disasters: 'More knowledge at our disposal than ever before'
Expert climate scientists at Columbia University have developed a new interactive tool that can help predict natural disasters so the government can prepare for them. They led the U.S. Natural Hazards Climate Change Projections project with a group of researchers to create an interactive dataset with maps and graphs, according to a post by the Earth Institute at Columbia University in The dataset can track and predict climate change-fueled extreme events on a county level. These detailed estimates provide vital information to governments, city officials, disaster relief organizations, and residents. Better preparation for natural disasters is good for the environment and can mean less expensive damage and fewer injuries and deaths. In their testing, the researchers found that San Diego and Washington State are both at a high risk for wildfires, and it could get worse. North Dakota and South Dakota could also see an increased risk for wildfires, and the East Coast may soon see more tornadoes. "While the challenges of climate change and disasters may seem overwhelming, it is also important to note that we have more knowledge at our disposal than ever before," said Jeffrey Schlegelmilch, a climate professor at the Columbia Climate School, per "By working across sectors and engaging partnerships like this, we can provide data that is empirically rigorous and immediately relevant to stakeholders outside of academia. This helps to foster better decisions, better investments and better resilience for our communities." The team released the dataset tool in April as open source and available to everyone. It's an important resource in a time when the Trump Administration is cutting funding to FEMA and taking down governmental agency tracking websites. "By making this data available in an accessible format, we aim to support not just climate scientists and risk modelers, but also urban planners, emergency managers and researchers in other fields, like economics or human mobility," said Simona Meiler, a postdoctoral climate researcher at Stanford University, per What would you do if natural disasters were threatening your home? Move somewhere else Reinforce my home Nothing This is happening already Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
QuantAQ Launches MODULAIR-UFP: Ultrafine Particle Monitoring for Outdoor Applications
The outdoor-ready ultrafine particle monitor offers real-time data, meteorological insights, and long-term deployment capability CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QuantAQ, a leader in air quality sensing, today announced the launch of the MODULAIR-UFP, a new sensor built to measure ultrafine particles (UFPs) in outdoor environments, enabling researchers, regulators, and communities to access new data for air quality monitoring. Designed to operate outside the lab and in long-term installations, the MODULAIR-UFP measures total particle number concentrations from 0 to 100,000 particles per cubic centimeter (p/cm³) with little to no maintenance for extended periods of time. 'Until now, ultrafine particle monitoring has been highly constrained and difficult for long-term outdoor uses,' said David Hagan, CEO and Co-founder of QuantAQ. 'The MODULAIR-UFP brings these critical measurements into the field with precision, reliability, and ease.' Each MODULAIR-UFP is equipped with a Gill® Weather Station, adding detailed meteorological measurements—including wind speed, wind direction, temperature, and humidity—to help contextualize pollution sources. This pairing provides a new level of resolution for understanding local air quality dynamics, particularly in complex urban and industrial environments. 'With its compactness and portability, the MODULAIR-UFP opens up exciting new research possibilities,' said Dr. Dan Westervelt, Associate Research Professor at Columbia Climate School's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and QuantAQ customer. 'We are particularly looking forward to understanding emissions of ultrafine particles near a major New York City highway as a function of vehicle type, fuel quality, driving conditions, and vehicle age.' Unlike other UFP solutions on the market, the MODULAIR-UFP uses a water-based, pulsed condensation particle counter (CPC). The sensor is compact, easy to install, and designed for low power consumption. To minimize downtime, the device proactively alerts users when the internal water reservoir is low, allowing maintenance teams to refill while minimizing interruptions to data collection. The MODULAIR-UFP also connects to the QuantAQ Cloud™ platform, enabling remote, real-time access to high-resolution data across single or multiple sites. Whether for researchers studying near-roadway exposure, city agencies tracking pollution hotspots, or community groups advocating for cleaner air, the MODULAIR-UFP empowers users to monitor UFP levels with flexibility and control. To learn more, visit About QuantAQSpun out of MIT in 2019, QuantAQ fuses data science, machine learning, atmospheric chemistry, physics, and IoT technology using a multi-disciplinary approach into a single platform to deliver accurate and reliable air quality measurements. The company has launched two market-leading air quality monitors, now used in more than thirty countries across all seven continents. QuantAQ continues to innovate by developing new products to make it easier than ever for customers to measure pollutants when and where they need to. Learn more at Media Contact:pr@ in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
13-05-2025
- Science
Why too much carbon dioxide harms the planet
Carbon dioxide may be a naturally occurring substance on Earth, but too much of its presence has contributed to global warming, climate scientists say. Carbon dioxide, known by the chemical formula CO2, is a gas produced by various natural processes, including respiration in animals and plants, volcanic eruptions, wildfires and the decay of organic matter. But human activity since the 1800s, namely the use of fossil fuels for energy, is overwhelming the planet's natural carbon sinks, such as oceans and forests. Therefore, the heat-trapping gas causes global temperatures to rise as more of it accumulates in the Earth's atmosphere. "CO2 is rising right now because of the emissions that we're putting into the atmosphere, and it's rising very rapidly," Bärbel Hönisch, professor of earth and environmental sciences at the Columbia Climate School's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, told ABC News. "And carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and so it heats the atmosphere." But the invisible gas is also critical for life on Earth. Plants breathe it in, and humans breathe it out. The goal of climate mitigation isn't to remove CO2 from the atmosphere completely, but to even out the unnatural surplus instead, said ABC News Chief Meteorologist and Chief Climate Correspondent Ginger Zee. "We want to get back to the natural amount of CO2," Zee said. The consequences of extra CO2 in the atmosphere extends beyond the climate itself. As excess greenhouse gases heat the planet, the ocean becomes more acidic, impacting marine life, Hönisch said. In addition, climate change is fueling rapid growth of certain types of algae, further collapsing ecosystems, Hönisch added. "Climate is a combination of different components that must be just right for life to exist on our planet," she said. Humans have injected more than 1.5 trillion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution, when the use of fossils fuels began to skyrocket, according to the Global Carbon Budget. Historical levels of climate change are determined by a number of processes. Samples of ice, lake and seafloor cores indicate how much carbon dioxide existed at different periods on the planet. In addition, more than six decades of CO2 measurements have been taken at the Mau Loa Observatory on Hawaii's Big Island, home to the largest active volcano in the world. The Keeling Curve, a graph that plots concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere over time, uses measurements taken at Mau Loa Observatory, starting in 1958. In 2024, CO2 levels in Earth's atmosphere reached the highest ever recorded, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Curbing the emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel use is key for limiting the impacts of a warming world, such as more frequent and intense extreme weather events and rising sea levels, climate scientists say.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Why too much carbon dioxide harms the planet
Carbon dioxide may be a naturally occurring substance on Earth, but too much of its presence has contributed to global warming, climate scientists say. Carbon dioxide, known by the chemical formula CO2, is a gas produced by various natural processes, including respiration in animals and plants, volcanic eruptions, wildfires and the decay of organic matter. MORE: Do plastic bag bans work? Here's what the science says. But human activity since the 1800s, namely the use of fossil fuels for energy, is overwhelming the planet's natural carbon sinks, such as oceans and forests. Therefore, the heat-trapping gas causes global temperatures to rise as more of it accumulates in the Earth's atmosphere. "CO2 is rising right now because of the emissions that we're putting into the atmosphere, and it's rising very rapidly," Bärbel Hönisch, professor of earth and environmental sciences at the Columbia Climate School's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, told ABC News. "And carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and so it heats the atmosphere." But the invisible gas is also critical for life on Earth. Plants breathe it in, and humans breathe it out. MORE: New Biomass satellite will provide an unprecedented look at the planet's forests The goal of climate mitigation isn't to remove CO2 from the atmosphere completely, but to even out the unnatural surplus instead, said ABC News Chief Meteorologist and Chief Climate Correspondent Ginger Zee. "We want to get back to the natural amount of CO2," Zee said. The consequences of extra CO2 in the atmosphere extends beyond the climate itself. As excess greenhouse gases heat the planet, the ocean becomes more acidic, impacting marine life, Hönisch said. In addition, climate change is fueling rapid growth of certain types of algae, further collapsing ecosystems, Hönisch added. "Climate is a combination of different components that must be just right for life to exist on our planet," she said. MORE: How rock dust is used to fertilize farms, clean the air Humans have injected more than 1.5 trillion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution, when the use of fossils fuels began to skyrocket, according to the Global Carbon Budget. Historical levels of climate change are determined by a number of processes. Samples of ice, lake and seafloor cores indicate how much carbon dioxide existed at different periods on the planet. In addition, more than six decades of CO2 measurements have been taken at the Mau Loa Observatory on Hawaii's Big Island, home to the largest active volcano in the world. The Keeling Curve, a graph that plots concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere over time, uses measurements taken at Mau Loa Observatory, starting in 1958. In 2024, CO2 levels in Earth's atmosphere reached the highest ever recorded, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. MORE: Researchers find new way to store carbon dioxide absorbed by plants at the bottom of the Black Sea Curbing the emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel use is key for limiting the impacts of a warming world, such as more frequent and intense extreme weather events and rising sea levels, climate scientists say. Why too much carbon dioxide harms the planet originally appeared on
