Warning! Warming Ocean is creating dangerous El Nino current.

Warning! The weather is about to get worse!

Earth

Dec. 29, 2015

A Still-Growing El Niño Set to Bear Down on U.S.

The current strong El Niño brewing in the Pacific Ocean shows no signs of waning, as seen in the latest satellite image from the U.S./European Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM)/Jason-2 mission.

El Niño 2015 has already created weather chaos around the world. Over the next few months, forecasters expect the United States to feel its impacts as well.

The latest Jason-2 image bears a striking resemblance to one from December 1997, by Jason-2's predecessor, the NASA/Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) Topex/Poseidon mission, during the last large El Niño event. Both reflect the classic pattern of a fully developed El Niño. The images can be viewed at:

http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/elnino2015/index.html

The images show nearly identical, unusually high sea surface heights along the equator in the central and eastern Pacific: the signature of a big and powerful El Niño. Higher-than-normal sea surface heights are an indication that a thick layer of warm water is present.

El Niños are triggered when the steady, westward-blowing trade winds in the Pacific weaken or even reverse direction, triggering a dramatic warming of the upper ocean in the central and eastern tropical Pacific. Clouds and storms follow the warm water, pumping heat and moisture high into the overlying atmosphere. These changes alter jet stream paths and affect storm tracks all over the world.

This year’s El Niño has caused the warm water layer that is normally piled up around Australia and Indonesia to thin dramatically, while in the eastern tropical Pacific, the normally cool surface waters are blanketed with a thick layer of warm water. This massive redistribution of heat causes ocean temperatures to rise from the central Pacific to the Americas. It has sapped Southeast Asia’s rain in the process, reducing rainfall over Indonesia and contributing to the growth of massive wildfires that have blanketed the region in choking smoke.

El Niño is also implicated in Indian heat waves caused by delayed monsoon rains, as well as Pacific island sea level drops, widespread coral bleaching that is damaging coral reefs, droughts in South Africa, flooding in South America and a record-breaking hurricane season in the eastern tropical Pacific. Around the world, production of rice, wheat, coffee and other crops has been hit hard by droughts and floods, leading to higher prices.

In the United States, many of El Niño’s biggest impacts are expected in early 2016. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration favor an El Niño-induced shift in weather patterns to begin in the near future, ushering in several months of relatively cool and wet conditions across the southern United States, and relatively warm and dry conditions over the northern United States. The latest El Niño forecast from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is at:

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/

While scientists still do not know precisely how the current El Niño will affect the United States, the last large El Niño in 1997-98 was a wild ride for most of the nation. The “Great Ice Storm” of January 1998 crippled northern New England and southeastern Canada, but overall, the northern tier of the United States experienced long periods of mild weather and meager snowfall. Meanwhile, across the southern United States, a steady convoy of storms slammed most of California, moved east into the Southwest, drenched Texas and -- pumped up by the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico -- wreaked havoc along the Gulf Coast, particularly in Florida.

"In 2014, the current El Niño teased us -- wavering off and on," said Josh Willis, project scientist for the Jason missions at JPL. "But in early 2015, atmospheric conditions changed, and El Niño steadily expanded in the central and eastern Pacific.  Although the sea surface height signal in 1997 was more intense and peaked in November of that year, in 2015, the area of high sea levels is larger. This could mean we have not yet seen the peak of this El Niño."

During normal, non-El Niño conditions, the amount of warm water in the western equatorial Pacific is so large that sea levels are about 20 inches (50 centimeters) higher in the western Pacific than in the eastern Pacific. "You can see it in the latest Jason-2 image of the Pacific," said Willis. "The 8-inch [20-centimeter] drop in the west, coupled with the 10-inch [25-centimeter] rise in the east, has completely wiped out the tilt in sea level we usually have along the equator."

The new Jason-2 image shows that the amount of extra-warm surface water from the current El Niño (depicted in red and white shades) has continuously increased, especially in the eastern Pacific within 10 degrees latitude north and south of the equator. In the western Pacific, the area of low sea level (blue and purple) has decreased somewhat from late October. The white and red areas indicate unusual patterns of heat storage. In the white areas, the sea surface is between 6 and 10 inches (15 to 25 centimeters) above normal, while in the red areas, it is about 4 inches (10 centimeters) above normal. The green areas indicate normal conditions. The height of the ocean water relates, in part, to its temperature, and is an indicator of the amount of heat stored in the ocean below.

Within this area, surface temperatures are greater than 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) in the central equatorial Pacific and near 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) off the coast of the Americas. This El Niño signal encompasses a surface area of 6 million square miles (16 million square kilometers) -- more than twice as big as the continental United States.

While no one can predict the exact timing or intensity of U.S. El Niño impacts, for drought-stricken California and the U.S. West, it’s expected to bring some relief.

"The water story for much of the American West over most of the past decade has been dominated by punishing drought," said JPL climatologist Bill Patzert. "Reservoir levels have fallen to record or near-record lows, while groundwater tables have dropped dangerously in many areas. Now we’re preparing to see the flip side of nature’s water cycle -- the arrival of steady, heavy rains and snowfall."

In 1982-83 and 1997-98, large El Niños delivered about twice the average amount of rainfall to Southern California, along with mudslides, floods, high winds, lightning strikes and high surf. But Patzert cautioned that El Niño events are not drought busters. "Over the long haul, big El Niños are infrequent and supply only seven percent of California’s water," he said.

"Looking ahead to summer, we might not be celebrating the demise of this El Niño," cautioned Patzert. "It could be followed by a La Niña, which could bring roughly opposite effects to the world’s weather."

La Niñas are essentially the opposite of El Niño conditions. During a La Niña episode, trade winds are stronger than normal, and the cold water that normally exists along the coast of South America extends to the central equatorial Pacific. La Niña episodes change global weather patterns and are associated with less moisture in the air over cooler ocean waters. This results in less rain along the coasts of North and South America and along the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, and more rain in the far Western Pacific.

El Niño events are part of the long-term, evolving state of global climate, for which measurements of sea surface height are a key indicator.

For an animation of the evolution of the 2015 and 1997 El Niños, visit:

https://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/elnino2015/2015-animated.gif

For more information on how NASA studies El Niño, visit:

http://climatesciences.jpl.nasa.gov/enso

To learn more about NASA’s satellite altimetry programs, visit:

http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA’s Earth science activities, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/earth

Alan Buis

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-354-0474

Alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov

Last Updated: Dec. 30, 2015

Editor: Jon Nelson

Tags:  Climate, Earth, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, OSTM (Ocean Surface Topography Mission)/Jason-2

Planned obsolescence is a crime against humanity!

Planned obsolescence is a crime against humanity!

 It was originally created to make work for thousands of unemployed people and now the concept and implementation of planned obsolescence creates so much pollution and garbage it is helping to create global warming! Maintaining planned obsolescence is simple. A manufacturer will create a product or products that self-destruct within a certain period of time. The idea is to make room for so called new products and there-bye perpetuating the socio-economic system. It helps the rich get richer and the poor are kept in a state of obvious poverty. Often the new products are made of plastic and unlike the solid and sturdy products of decades ago, the new products do not survive a few months of wear and tear and end up in garbage bags and then landfills and much too often in our Oceans where circular Ocean currents break down the Plastic into tiny pieces. These pieces end up in the Fish we eat.

 Years ago Cars were made to last decades and they promised freedom to anybody buying a car. Back then Cars ran on Electricity and Alcohol and later, Gas. The idea of driving thousands of miles on cheap gas was popular and freedom-loving young people bought millions of Cars and the machines lasted Twenty years or more. Today, the price of Gas limits the driving distance for thousands of average people and the pollution created by Ten Billion Cars around the world is creating dangerous climate change. We are all waiting for the new Electric Cars to once again give us the freedom to travel thousands of miles but once again the concept of planned obsolescence is blocking and stalling the implementation of these vehicles. Machines that last years and give millions of individuals basic freedom to travel goes against the profit-making socio-economic system. A system that uses economic slavery to keep the poor working in one place for basic survival while providing so-called "consumers" with useless products that quickly self-destruct and go to waste, all to maintain an industrial hierarchy where a few company bosses become super rich at the expense of the working class. We need to invest money that maintains Nature and Life and not on useless garbage.

We need a powerful United Nations Peace force to arrest human rights abusers.

 
Dear Joseph,

In the struggle for human rights, everyone matters.

 I met Alfadil Mohamed during a mission to Sudan in May to document widespread human rights violations over more than 4 years of armed conflict in the forgotten Sudanese state of South Kordofan. 

Alfadil’s wife and unborn child were killed by shrapnel from a Sudanese Air Force bomb earlier this year.  His mother and 2 year old son were almost killed when another bomb fell just 2 months later. 

He asked why, after so many years of death raining down from the sky, the world had done nothing to stop the abuses in South Kordofan.  He put it starkly, is it because we do not matter? 

Alfadil’s words cut to the very heart of the struggle for universal human rights.  Governments have promised that everyone’s rights matter, while betraying that promise every day.  

Alfadil and his family matter.  Everyone matters.

Thank you for standing with us through this past year. 2015 has reminded us that human rights struggles are very often for the long-haul, but also that continuing to shine the Amnesty candle does bring change. Justice does prevail.

In 2004 Amnesty International launched ourStolen Sisters report, documenting the alarming levels of violence and discrimination against Indigenous women and girls in Canada. For more than a decade we have stood alongside the families of murdered and missing women, grassroots activists, Indigenous women leaders and others in pressing for a public inquiry and national action plan to address the violence. 

Our insistence never wavered. And now everything has changed.

Within six weeks of this fall’s election, Canada’s new government announced a full public inquiry, which should be underway later in 2016. As I listened to the announcement I thought of the many Indigenous women I have been humbled to stand with over the past eleven years. Their pain has been raw.  Their leadership has been inspiring. Their call for justice has been so clear. 

Everyone matters. Indigenous women and girls matter.

Global efforts to end the devastating conflict in Syria have, to say the least, been a colossal failure. 

Amnesty International has pressed the world to at least take action to ensure that the unending wave of Syrians who have fled the country – now more than 4 million – find safe and dignified refuge. 

But the world, including Canada, looked away as the numbers of Syrian refugees mounted, conditions in neighbouring countries worsened and desperation forced more and more refugees to take deadly journeys across the Mediterranean.

And when the heartbreaking photograph of 3 year-old Alan Kurdi’s lifeless body on a Turkish beach captured global attention, we insisted that indifference was no longer an option. It became a major election issue and the new government has come to power having made bold resettlement commitments. 

How fitting that the first plane full of resettled Syrian refugees arrived in Toronto on December 10^th, International Human Rights Day.  And thousands more will follow.

Over the coming year we will launch a #RefugeesWelcomeHere campaign, shoring up the remarkable support for refugees Canadians have demonstrated in recent months and pressing for an end to the restrictive laws and policies that have taken hold in recent years.

Syrian refugees matter.  Every refugee matters.

 This year began with the worrying news that imprisoned Saudi Arabian blogger, Raif Badawi, sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes over 20 weeks, was set to receive his first 50 lashes. Amnesty activists around the world rallied – including in Canada, where his wife Ensaf Haidar and their three young children now live as refugees. The first fifty lashes did go ahead, but Raif Badawi has not been flogged again. International pressure has been considerable. Now we must ensure that he is freed.

During a Mexican prison visit in 2014 I interviewed torture survivor, Angel Colon, a prisoner of conscience held in a maximum security prison for over five years. He was released five weeks after that visit.  Angel spoke to Amnesty supporters from across the country at our May 2015 AGM in Halifax.  His courage and grace captivated every audience who heard him, including a House of Commons Committee.  His words of encouragement have stayed with many: my freedom is your victory.

Every individual wrongly imprisoned matters.  Every person who has faced the agony of torture matters.

At the heart of everything we do are brave women, men and young people defending rights in their communities.  Sadly in many parts of the world 2015 was not a safe year to be a human rights defender

We insisted that China relent in its crackdown on the country’s human rights lawyers.  We celebrated the release from prison of Azerbaijani human rights activists Leyla and Arif Yunus, but demanded that all restrictions against them be lifted.  We continued to press for freedom for Bahareh Hedayat and other women’s human rights defenders imprisoned in Iran.  

We also stood alongside Cindy Blackstock, untiring advocate for the rights of First Nations children in Canada, as she exposed how she had been targeted for government surveillance and reprisals because of her human rights work.

Every defender of human rights matters.

There have been many troubled, global hotspots in 2015.  We were on the ground researching terrifying human rights crises right around the world.  In Syria, northern Iraq, the Central African Republic, Burundi, Ukraine, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain, Sudan and South Sudan, Amnesty teams have interviewed, probed and reported.  We have taken our findings to national capitals and the UN.  We have held rallies, organized vigils, written letters and circulated petitions.

Every woman, every man and every child matters, in times of peace and times of war.    

 As we begin 2016 we face new opportunities for advancing human rights in Canadian foreign policy and domestic record.  Change is urgently needed after years of inaction with respect to a number of key concerns, including the rights of Indigenous peoples, ratifying UN treaties, corporate accountability, national security reforms, gender equality, and raising human rights consistently with other countries. 

Our demands for change never faltered.  And many of our concerns are now reflected in commitments from the new government, such as signing on to the UN Arms Trade Treaty, reversing refugee healthcare cuts and protecting the rights of transgender individuals.  Now we await follow-through.

At the very heart of all of these efforts has been the determination and generosity of Amnesty supporters across the country -- be it the crucial financial support that makes our work possible, or the energetic activism that drives change.

Please help Amnesty ensure that universal human rights are protected around the world. Click here to donate today.

Help Amnesty bring safety and dignity to vulnerable refugees around the world.  Click here to make a tax-creditable donation.

Please click here to make your year-end gift to support Amnesty International's work in 2016.

Make a special gift to stop torture and your donation will be doubled. Click here to donate now.

Thank you for your support and your commitment to a world in which everyone matters. Together we will continue to make a difference in 2016.

Sincerely,

Alex Neve
Secretary General
Amnesty International Canada

P.S. Amnesty International's vital work to protect human rights around the world depends solely on donations from supporters like you. Please make your tax-creditable gift to Amnesty International before December 31st by clicking here.

You received this email because you  are a member, donor or supporter of Amnesty International Canada. If you do not wish to receive emails from Amnesty, click here.

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Flower pictures brighten long Grey Winters.

Flower pictures brighten long grey Winters.

The world humanitarian peace and ecology movement is not a religion or a cult but simply a way of life. We wish you millions of happy moments.

Have a Happy Holiday Season no matter what your religion or faith.

               

Flower pictures brighten long Grey Winters.

                                                                                                       

Moving Zeitgeist forward...an important education for everybody.

Gentle People:

Here is the one movie that uses a few of the most intelligent human beings on Earth to explain and expose the truth about our badly functioning socio-economic system and how we can change the system before it is too late! It should be viewed by every working Mother and Father and every student on Earth from grade school to university.  

"Moving Zeitgeist Forward" provides solutions which absolutely have to exist in order to change the system before our system destroys us. http://www.netflix.com/watch/70225009?trackId=14187335&tctx=24%2C2%2C6abb8f08-beea-47b8-aeaf-32975043fa03-103552633

http://www.netflix.com/watch/70225009?trackId=14187335&tctx=24%2C2%2C6abb8f08-beea-47b8-aeaf-32975043fa03-103552633

Find number 5 on the list. It is filled with great sites and sounds.

Our international Index of BEST web sites. If some links don't work, try copying and pasting directly into Google. This week I recommend you visit number 60 in our list for beautiful pictures.

1.=   http://www.freeChess.org  </>
2. =  http://www.netflix.com/WiHome </>
3.=   http://www.webcrawler.com/%E2%80%8E/support/addsearchtosite?qc=web&aid=c7d63d78-d17e-49d5-a735-4e642b7855ac&ridx=1 </>
4.=   https://www.google.ca/?gws_rd=cr&ei=mKPmUor8O4zxrAGy44BY </>
5.=   http://www.Youtube.com</>
6. =  http://www.Greenpeace.org </>
7.=   http://www.human4us2.blogspot.ca </>
8. =  http://www.NASA.GOV</>
9. =  http://www.teamsternation.com </>
10.= http://www.Ted.com</>
11.= http://ca.yahoo.com/?p=us</>
12 = http://www.Reuters.com</>
13.= http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles</>
14.= http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/360-panorama-paris/index-en.html</>
15.= http://www.greatwallchina.info/news/index.htm</>
16.= http://www.geographia.com/russia/moscow02.htm</>
17.= http://www.wwfindia.org/</>
18.= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy
19.= theobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80167&eocn=te&eoci=index</>
20.= http://www.un.org/en/</>

21. = http://storyofstuff.org/ 

22. = wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory </>
23.= http://www.dalailama.com/ 

24.=  https://plus.google.com/u/0/                          
25.=   https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/coronal-hole-front-and-center                        

26. = http://www.bbc.com/news/health-24564446 </>
27.=  http://www.kijiji.ca/ </> 

28.=  http://www.nytimes.com/ </>
29.=  http://video.canadiens.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=291&id=587397&lang </>

30.=  http://www.iTooch.com </> 31. = http://www.Netmaths.com </> 32. = http://www.Evernote.com</>
33. = http://www.abmaths.com</> 34. = http://www.Sciences.com</> 35. =
36. = http://www.human4us2.blogspot.ca      37. = https://plus.google.com/u/0/ </>
38.=  http://www.jaccorde.com</>
39.=  http://www.Atlasdumonde.com </> 40.= http://www.Echecs.com </>

41.=  http://mlb.mlb.com/home </>  42.= http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/ </> 43.= http://www.nfl.com/ </>
44.=  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83650</>
45.=  http://crowdenergy.org/ocean-energy-turbine-kickstarter-video/</>
46.=  http://www.human4us2.blogspot.ca -                                            place holder
47.=  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events </>
48.=  http://www.sierraclub.org/
49.=  http://eol.org/ </>
50.=  http://www.seedsavers.org/onlinestore/</>
51. = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiwI5k-gFwc
52.=  http://www.emsl.pnnl.gov/emslweb/news/new-hypothesis-environmental-restoration.
53.=  https://plus.google.com/u/0/explore/sciencenews
54.=  www.drbookspan.com/
55.=  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_lighthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_light
56.=  http://www.nova.org.au/space-time/dark-stuff-our-universe
57.=  http://www.human4us2.blogspot.ca
58.=  http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Collections/
59.=  http://singularityhub.com/2015/10/18/how-aged-neurons-in-a-dish-can-accelerate-longevity-research/http://singularityhub.com/2015/10/18/how-aged-neurons-in-a-dish-can-accelerate-longevity-research/
60.= https://plus.google.com/u/0/112832872224512996909/posts
61.=http://www.openculture.com/2012/08/the_character_of_physical_law_richard_feynmans_legendary_lecture_series_at_cornell_1964.html
62.= http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html 
63.= http://earthspacecircle.blogspot.ca/

“The huge question is: in the future, as the carbon dioxide builds up,...

acquired September 6, 2014 - September 6, 2015

Launched in 2014, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) has been collecting NASA’s first detailed, global measurements of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The OCO-2 team recently released its first full year of data, which is critical to analyzing and understanding Earth’s carbon cycle.

The animated map above shows global average carbon dioxide concentrations as measured by OCO-2 from September 6, 2014, to September 6, 2015. The satellite measures carbon dioxide from the top of Earth’s atmosphere to its surface. Higher concentrations appear dark orange, while lower concentrations appear yellow. The scale is relatively narrow, from 390 to 405 parts per million, the high and low measurements by OCO-2 in its first year. Since the beginning of the industrial age, the global concentration of CO2 has increased from roughly an average of 280 parts per million to an average of 400 parts per million.

One recognizable pattern over the year is the annual uptake and release of carbon as each hemisphere passes through the seasons. In the winter, carbon dioxide levels are at their peak in the northern hemisphere, when there is little plant or phytoplankton growth to offset emissions from human activities and natural sources. At the same time, CO2 concentrations drop in the southern hemisphere, which is bathed in summer sunlight and heat. The pattern reverses as the hemispheres change seasons. According to the new measurements, atmospheric CO2 changes by 8 to 12 parts per million (2 to 3 percent) from winter through the “spring drawdown” in the northern hemisphere. This is visible in the maps below from March-April and August 2015.

acquired March 27 - April 11, 2015

acquired August 11 - 16, 2015

Over the course of a year, it is also clear that CO2 levels are generally higher over the northern hemisphere—where there are more people and more emissions—than in the southern hemisphere. Both phenomena are well known to scientists, but OCO-2 now lets us see those patterns more clearly. Scientists expect that more patterns will emerge on finer scales as the OCO-2 data set grows with time.

Though atmospheric carbon has been measured from stations on the ground—most famously at Mauna Loa in Hawaii—the value of OCO-2 is that it makes consistent measurements with the same instrument over all land and sea surfaces. This was previously done, though at lower resolution and less frequency, by the JapaneseGOSAT satellite. NASA’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on the Aqua satellite also senses carbon dioxide, though higher in the atmosphere.

OCO-2 is NASA’s first spacecraft dedicated to studying the manmade and natural sources and sinks of carbon dioxide from the top of the atmosphere to the surface. It uses high-resolution spectrometers that measure the intensity of sunlight at different wavelengths after it has passed down through the atmosphere, reflected off the land surface, and passed back up through the atmosphere. Every day, OCO-2 orbits Earth 14.5 times and returns about a million measurements. After eliminating data contaminated by clouds, aerosols, and steep terrain, between 10 to 13 percent of the measurements are of sufficient quality to derive accurate estimates of average carbon dioxide concentrations. That's at least 100 times more carbon dioxide measurements than from all other sources combined.

“The new, exciting thing from my perspective is that we have more than 100,000 measurements each day of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” said Annmarie Eldering, OCO-2 deputy project scientist, based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Armed with this pile of data, we can start to investigate more fully this question of sources and sinks and how different parts of the world contribute to these processes.”

Carbon naturally cycles through earthly environments. Ocean water naturally absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and floating, microscopic phytoplankton soak it up as well. Trees, crops, and other plants on land take up carbon dioxide and turn it into the building blocks of roots, stems, branches, and leaves. Some of that carbon stays in the soil as vegetation dies and gets buried, and some is released back into the atmosphere through plant respiration. Both carbon dioxide and methane also are released through the decomposition of vegetation, land clearing, and fire. Over many millennia, the pace of carbon cycling is even influenced by volcanic emissions and the weathering of rocks.

For most of human history, this rhythmic exchange of carbon has been more-or-less steady. But the cycle has been thrown off in the past few centuries as ever-growing human populations have burned fossil fuels, cleared forests, and tilled soils for agriculture.

Today, about half of the carbon dioxide released by human activities stays in the atmosphere, warming and altering Earth’s climate. The other half is removed from the air by the plants, plankton, and oceans. “The huge question is: in the future, as the carbon dioxide builds up, will the land and the ocean continue to take up that 50 percent?” said Eldering. “Do they get saturated or full, and they quit at some point, or do they always just take up more and more and more?”

• Related Reading

• NASA (2015, November 12) A Breathing Planet, Off Balance. Accessed December 10, 2015.
• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2015, October 29) Excitement Grows as NASA Carbon Sleuth Begins Year Two.Accessed December 10, 2015.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2011, June 16) The Carbon Cycle.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2013, June 16) Global Patterns of Carbon Dioxide.

NASA Earth Observatory maps by Joshua Stevens, using data from the OCO-2 science team at NASA-JPL and Caltech. Caption by Mike Carlowicz, based on reporting by Alan Buis (JPL) and Kate Ramsayer and Carol Rasmussen (NASA Earth Science News Team). .

Except for a vital Tax on Carbon...

INTERNATIONAL

Nearly 200 Nations Adopt Climate Agreement At COP21 Talks In Paris

Updated December 12, 20159:19 PM ET 

BILL CHAPPELL

Twitter

i

French President Francois Hollande, right, French Foreign Minister and president of the COP21 meetings Laurent Fabius, second right, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, left, and UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon join hands after the final adoption of an agreement at the COP21 United Nations conference on climate change.

Francois Mori/AP

In what supporters are calling a historic achievement, 196 nations attending the COP21 climate meetings outside Paris voted to adopt an agreement Saturday that covers both developed and developing countries. Their respective governments will now need to adopt the deal.

Presenting the plan aimed at curbing global warming ahead of Saturday's vote, France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told the delegations, "You go into this room to decide a historic agreement. The world holds its breath and it counts on you."

The agreement, which was publicly released Saturday morning (ET), sets the goal of limiting the world's rise in average temperature to "well below 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius."

Reporting on details of the deal, NPR's Christopher Joyce says, "To help developing countries switch from fossil fuels to greener sources of energy and adapt to the effects of climate change, the developed world will provide $100 billion a year."

He adds that the 1.5-degree cap was sought by island nations.

Under the agreement, the Obama administration says that for the first time, all countries will be required to report on "national inventories of emissions by source" and also to report on their mitigation efforts.

President Obama spoke on the agreement late Saturday afternoon, saying the agreement was a strong one, showing what is possible when the world stands as one.

"We met the moment," Obama said.

White House YouTube

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "With these elements in place, markets now have the clear signal they need to unleash the full force of human ingenuity and scale up investments that will generate low-emissions, resilient growth," adding that "what was once unthinkable has now become unstoppable."

Update at 3:05 p.m. ET: Hollande Gives Al Gore A Shout-Out

"You've done it," French President Francois Hollande told the delegates in the hall, setting off a new round of applause. "You have succeeded where six years ago there was failure."

Turning philosophical during his remarks, Hollande said that for everyone in the room today, they'll someday face questions such as "What was the meaning of our lives, what did we achieve."

And he answered, "one thing will come up time and again: you will be able to say that on the twelfth of December you were in Paris for the agreement on the climate. And you will be able to be proud to stand before your children and your grandchildren."

Hollande went on to acknowledge the work on climate change by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore — who's in attendance, and who rises and bows as people in the chamber yell and applaud.

We are entering a low-carbon age, Hollande said, adding later that the climate agreement represents the "most beautiful, most peaceful revolution" in the world.

Update at 2:27 p.m. ET: A 'Tremendous Victory,' Kerry Says

"This a tremendous victory for all our citizens," Secretary of State John Kerry says. "It's a victory for all the planet, and for future generations."

Kerry said the deal "will help the world prepare" for impacts of climate change that are either already here or are on the way, adding that it could prevent the worst environmental effects from coming to pass. He went on to say that American enterprise and businesses would play vital roles in that process.

Kerry also praised the summit's French hosts for their work on the agreement, particularly in light of the recent terrorist attacks.

"We've taken a critical step forward," Kerry says, adding that the next actions will be equally important.

Update at 1:43 p.m. ET: 'Single Most Important Collective Action'

Conservation International Chairman and CEO Peter Seligmann says the COP21 agreement "is a transformative diplomatic victory," but he adds, "The hard work of delivery begins now. The security of nations and humanity depends upon the reduction of emissions and the protection of nature."

The group calls the agreement "the single most important collective action for addressing climate change ever agreed upon."

Update at 1:30 p.m. ET: Deal Is Adopted

The hall erupts into applause after no one objects to a final adoption of the deal to combat global warming and rein in greenhouse gases.

After the excitement dies down, Fabius is reminded he must use his gavel to make the results official.

"It's a small gavel, but I think it can do a great job," he says as he raps it on the table.

Update at 1:18 p.m. ET: The Session Has Begun

After hours of delays, Fabius begins the evening's proceedings in France. The event quickly turns to correcting errors in the documents, such as differences between translations of the deal (it's in six languages).

Update at 12:50 p.m. ET: U.S. Supports Deal; Meeting Still Pending

With delays slowing the start of the meeting, we're hearing word that U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern says the United States will agree to the deal. Stern spoke to reporters as delegates entered the main gathering hall.

The Like Minded Group of Developing Countries — China, India, Saudi Arabia, and others — has said through a spokesman that they're "happy" with the deal, the BBC reports.

Our original post continues:

"The end is in sight. Let us now finish the job," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told delegates at the two-week meetings. "The whole world is watching. Billions of people are relying on your wisdom."

The document includes two essential recognitions:

• "that climate change represents an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet and thus requires the widest possible cooperation by all countries"
• "that deep reductions in global emissions will be required in order to achieve the ultimate objective of the Convention and emphasizing the need for urgency in addressing climate change."

The deal also calls for five-year updates on how the plan is being instituted.

For it to take effect, all 196 individual governments in the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change will need to adopt the final document. Working out terms of the deal required adding an extra day to the conference.

"Major hurdles included how much wealthy countries would spend to help developing countries adapt to climate change," NPR's Christopher Joyce reports from Paris. Chris adds, "donor countries will retain the right to monitor how that money is spent.

Urging negotiators to seize a chance to change the world, French President Francois Hollande said Saturday morning, "History is here. All the conditions are met. The decisive agreement for the planet is now."

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• paris
• climate change

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