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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/27/un-chief-issues-climate-sos-warns-of-unimaginable-catastrophe>
"United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has issued his latest
climate SOS, calling on countries to “Save Our Seas” as he warned of a crisis
of an “unimaginable scale” caused by greenhouse gases and rising sea levels.
Speaking at a gathering of Pacific Island regional leaders on Tuesday in
Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofa, he warned there was “no lifeboat to take us back to
safety”.
“This is a crazy situation: Rising seas are a crisis entirely of humanity’s
making. A crisis that will soon swell to an almost unimaginable scale,” he
said. “The reason is clear: Greenhouse gases – overwhelmingly generated by
burning fossil fuels – are cooking our planet. And the sea is taking the heat –
literally.”
Nuku’alofa is hosting more than 1,000 international delegates for the Pacific
Islands Forum Leaders Meeting until August 30. Climate change and its impact on
the Pacific’s low-lying communities is high on the agenda at the gathering of
regional officials, who lead some of the world’s most imperilled countries.
Guterres, who last attended the Leaders Meeting in 2019, warned that with about
90 percent of people living within 5km (3 miles) of the coast, and an average
elevation of just one to 1-2 metres (3.2-6.5 ft) above sea level, the “Pacific
islands are uniquely exposed”.
He is also expected to visit Samoa while he is in the Pacific."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
