THE STATE WE’RE IN :: Climate change: ‘Clear and unequivocal’ emergency, say scientists

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https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50302392

A global group of around 11,000 scientists have endorsed research that says the world is facing a climate emergency.

The study, based on 40 years of data on a range of measures, says governments are failing to address the crisis.

Without deep and lasting changes, the world is facing “untold human suffering” the study says.

The researchers say they have a moral obligation to warn of the scale of the threat.

“We have rising emissions, rising temperatures, and we’ve known this for 40 years and we haven’t acted – you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know we have a a problem,” said Dr Newsome.

6/11/19 17.35 https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biz088/5610806

Mitigating and adapting to climate change while honoring the diversity of humans entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems. We are encouraged by a recent surge of concern. Governmental bodies are making climate emergency declarations. Schoolchildren are striking. Ecocide lawsuits are proceeding in the courts. Grassroots citizen movements are demanding change, and many countries, states and provinces, cities, and businesses are responding.

As the Alliance of World Scientists, we stand ready to assist decision-makers in a just transition to a sustainable and equitable future. We urge widespread use of vital signs, which will better allow policymakers, the private sector, and the public to understand the magnitude of this crisis, track progress, and realign priorities for alleviating climate change. The good news is that such transformative change, with social and economic justice for all, promises far greater human well-being than does business as usual. We believe that the prospects will be greatest if decision-makers and all of humanity promptly respond to this warning and declaration of a climate emergency and act to sustain life on planet Earth, our only home.

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Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal ‘would cost UK economy £70bn’

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Plan would shave up to 4% from size of economy by the end of 2020s, says thinktank

Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal is expected to cost the UK economy as much as £70bn over the next decade compared with remaining in the EU, according to one of the country’s leading economic thinktanks.

In a warning in the run-up to a snap election, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the prime minister’s plan would shave up to 4% from the size of the economy by the end of the 2020s, equivalent to about £1,100 per person per year, compared with a situation where Britain remained in the EU.

It said that Johnson’s plan would fail to generate a “deal dividend” for the economy, contrary to government claims that MPs passing the withdrawal agreement would spur economic growth by lifting the current cloud of uncertainty facing the nation.

Instead, it warned that the withdrawal agreement and proposed free-trade deal put forward by the prime minister would result in a smaller economy than an extension and continued uncertainty.

Continue ReadingBoris Johnson’s Brexit deal ‘would cost UK economy £70bn’