Climate threatGlobal challenges

New study may help predict Europe's extreme heat 

 

Extreme heat and long droughts may hit Europe already in the next few decades and become more frequent, according to a new study published in Communications Earth and Environment. Similar weather was previously seen as "practically impossible" before the end of the century. 

 

- The new study confirms what we already know to a large extent, but reinforces the seriousness of scenarios with strong global warming, says Erik Kjellström, professor of climatology at SMHI, to TT.  

 

The study also looked at natural variations in the North Atlantic that can move between warm and cold periods spanning years, or even decades.  

 

When the sea water swings in the warmer direction, the heat waves can be amplified. In the future, the knowledge could be used to more easily predict when the hottest periods will strike, according to Erik Kjellström.  

 

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The climate threat|The climate meeting COP28 COP28 

chairman: "No research" shows that fossil fuels need to be phased out 

 

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, president of the UN climate summit COP28, has claimed that "no research" has shown that phasing out fossil fuels is necessary to keep the global average temperature rise below 1.5 degrees. That's what The Guardian writes.  

 

The statement is said to have been made in a live online event on November 21 this year.  

 

Al Jaber, who in addition to being chairman of the UN climate summit is also head of the United Arab Emirates' state oil company, is said to have also said that a world without fossil fuels is unthinkable "as long as you don't want to take the world back to the cave stage".  

 

According to researchers The Guardian has spoken to, the statements border on climate denial and are "incredibly worrying".  

 

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Swedish companies at COP28 to "nag, nag, nag"  

 

At the UN's international climate meeting in Dubai, which is larger than ever with around 80,000 participants, 23 Swedish companies are participating. It is everything from large companies such as Scania, Volvo and Ikea to smaller specialized energy and environmental technology companies, writes TT. 

 

- Just being here and nagging, nagging, nagging that the solutions exist - and that a clear political global leadership is now required - is probably the most important thing for the companies here, says Business Sweden's CEO Jan Larsson.  

 

The COP28 summit has been criticized, among other things, because it is held in the oil country of the United Arab Emirates and because it is led by Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of the country's national oil company.

 

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The climate threat|The climate meeting COP28  

Stoltenberg: Must gear down to cope with the climate  

 

War and conflict put a damper on climate work. And climate change is in turn a driving force for conflicts because it increases competition for scarce resources, says NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with Ekot during COP28. 

 

- Peace and disarmament are what would be needed in the world in order to obtain both sufficient financial resources and to obtain the trust between countries that is required to be able to deal with the climate crisis, says Stoltenberg.