Tomorrow on December 4th, the Arctic Methane Emergency Group (AMEG) will hold a press conference at the COP-20 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Lima, Peru. AMEG is a group that formed several years ago in response to the rapid decline of Arctic ice and concerns about rapidly releasing methane coming from the Arctic region.
AMEG members are a group of determined scientists, engineers, communicators and others who are working on what is really happening to our planet (especially in the Arctic) and they use the best scientific evidence that is available. They are also looking to find effective and affordable ways to deal with the Arctic situation, and have been communicating this information to authorities and the general public. Part time Professor Paul Beckwith from the University of Ottawa, an AMEG member, is also at the conference as part of the UN delegation from Africa. Beckwith has a background in Physics and climate change, with his PhD study being in abrupt climate change.
This will be the 20th yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 20) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 10th session of the Meeting of the Parties (CMP 10) to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The conference delegates will continue the negotiations towards a global climate agreement. Leadership of the negotiations is yet to be determined. The overarching goal of the conference is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) to limit the global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius above current levels
The details of the AMEG conference are below.
TIME: Thursday, December 4, 2014, 12:00-12:30 PM
WHERE: Press Conference Room 2, COP-20, Lima
SUBJECT: Arctic meltdown: a catastrophic threat to our survival. AMEG calls for rapid refreezing of the Arctic to halt runaway melting
WHO: John Nissen, Chair AMEG, supported by Professor Peter Wadhams, Cambridge University, co-founder of AMEG and world-renowned expert on Arctic sea ice, with Paul Beckwith, AMEG blogger.
SUMMARY:
There is strong evidence of advanced acceleration in:
• Arctic warming and sea ice decline in a vicious cycle
• Substantial ice loss in Greenland with potential massive loss due to unstable glaciers
• Disruption of jet stream behaviour, with abrupt climate change leading to crop failures, rising food prices and conflict in the Northern Hemisphere
• Rapid emissions of methane from the Arctic seabed, permafrost and tundra.
The tipping point for the Arctic sea ice has already passed.
AMEG’S CONCLUSIONS ARE::
• The meltdown is accelerating and could become unstoppable as early as Sept 2015
• Immediate action must be taken to refreeze the Arctic to halt runaway melting
• Greenhouse gas emissions reduction, however drastic, cannot solve this problem
• Calculations show that powerful interventions are needed to cool the Arctic
• Any delay escalates the risk of failure
• Arctic meltdown is a catastrophic threat for civilisation.
AMEG is therefore calling for the immediate setting up of a task force, specifically mandated to ensure that the Arctic is cooled as quickly and safely as possible.
For more information:
Contact: John Nissen, Chairman, AMEG, johnnissen2003@gmail.com
