Transcript Document

Why Asian Climate
Change?
•Largest population
•Monsoonal Climate
•Rapid growth in energy use
•Rapid urbanization
The Co-Benefits of Responding to Climate Change: STATUS in ASIA
Castillo et al., June 2007
Climate Alert , Autumn 2009
Climate Alert , Autumn 2009
BANGALORE WARMING = GLOBAL + LOCAL
Heavy precipitation events over Central India
have increased by 50% during last 50 years
Light to moderate rainfall
events (5-100 mm)
Heavy rainfall events
(>10cm)
Very heavy rainfall
events (>15cm)
Source: IITM, Goswami et al. 2006; data is the
frequency in each of 143 grids in the region
Xu et al.,JGR, 2006
Typhoons in Taiwan, Tu,Chou &Chu
Tu,Chou,&Chu, J of Climate 2009
Enviroment
Degradation
MORE VULNERABLE
MORE
DEGRADATION
NATURAL
HAZARDS
CAUSES
DISASTERS
Karakoram
Millions at Risk
from Parry et al., 2001
If one is tugging on the
dragon’s tail with little
notion of how much
agitation is required to
wake him, one must be
prepared for the
unexpected.
Pierrehumbert,PNAS,97,2000
Poverty reduction is easier in the
presence rather than absence of
growth; but growth is closely
correlated with energy use
Hardly any country has been able
to decouple emissions from growth
From UNDP
We believe that Asia can be a ‘change agent’, but
Asian countries need to be more proactive.
They should develop their own emissions reduction
plans, policies, and targets and use them as the
basis of climate negotiations.
This way, Asia can change the game, and get
beyond the ‘finger pointing’ with the West that
has characterized much of the negotiations so
far.
Both sides will need to understand each other’s
key
objectives, concerns, aspirations, and
responsibilities better. Ideally, this mutual
understanding will allow both sides to reach an
agreement that is both equitable and equal to the
magnitude of the global challenges of climate
change
•Climate variability
•Climate Change
• Impacts
• Policy