Everyone is abuzz about COP26

By Jenn Schlegel

Everyone is abuzz about COP26. And rightfully so. Indeed, pundits and policy makers are calling it the world’s “best last chance” to get our runaway climate change under control. And considering the planet’s recent plethora of floods, fires and melting ice, all eyes are tuned into the action in Glasgow the next two weeks.

All eyes on Glasgow

Climate change is clearly the global priority at this 26^th annual summit, taking place in Glasgow, Scotland from October 31^st – November 12^th, 2021. World leaders and ten of thousands of negotiators, government representatives, business people and everyday citizens will meet for twelve days of international talks. The world is hoping for a positive outcome like the COP21 Paris Agreement. (Where countries agreed to work together to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, remember?) We all know it in our hearts. COP26 is going to have to be something much more monumental than Paris. Fingers crossed.

Why Ice Loss Matters — From NASA’s Operation IceBridge campaign in Alaska: A high altitude view of Icy Bay, in the Wrangell-Saint Elias Wilderness.
Just a century ago, this body of water was covered in ice. **Credit**: NASA ICE Twitter Feed

The data doesn’t sound good

Not surprising, the data don’t sound good: the global temperature up 1.18°C since 1880; the Artic ice melting away at a very scary 13% per decade; and Mother Earth shedding 427 billion metric tons of ice per year. This, in a nutshell, translates to sea levels going up about 2.6-2.9 mm per year. At this rate, especially here in the Benelux, we will have to forego electric cars and just think about e-boats for the future.