After two weeks of talks in Glasgow, (click here) diplomats from almost 200 countries have agreed to ramp up their carbon-cutting commitments, phase out some fossil fuels and increase aid to poor countries on the front lines of climate change.
The agreement will not put the world on track to avoid catastrophic warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). But officials said it represents a significant step on a path to a safer future....
OPEN SCIENTIFIC REBELLION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By Tosin Thompson
Members of Scientist Rebellion, including Kyle Topfer (second from the left) and Charlie Gardner (far right), chained together on Glasgow's King George V Bridge.
It is about 1 p.m. on 11 November (click here) when I arrive at the rendezvous point: South Portland Street Suspension Bridge — a footbridge above the River Clyde in Glasgow, UK. On a dinghy floating across the river, a distant figure in a lab coat holds up a banner that reads “Tell the truth or we will lose everything”. It is Tim Hewlett, an astrophysicist and co-founder of activist group Scientist Rebellion. I am told that he will continue to float across the river until he docks by the Scottish Event Campus where the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) is taking place, or until he’s arrested — whichever comes first.
For the past week, I have been speaking to scientists at COP26, where nations are trying to agree on how to fulfil their pledges to tackle climate change. Some researchers are advisers at the meeting or part of the delegations trying to negotiate a final deal. But others are among the hundreds of activists staging protests on the streets of Glasgow throughout the summit to demand stronger action....
