WMO: Greenhouse Gas Volume Marked a Symbolic Threshold

According to U.N World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said, the amount of Greenhouse gas spiked to the highest rate in 2015. This fuels climate change and make the planet more dangerous even if government limits man-made global warming.

WMO reports said, the total percentage of carbon dioxide worldwide, a potent greenhouse gas hit 400.0 parts per million (ppm) in the atmosphere. This is the first time on record and was 44 percent higher than pre-Industrial Revolution Levels.

The uncontrollable growth is in contrast with a recent Paris Agreement signed by 200 country leaders. The agreement is meant to regulate emissions, phase out fossil fuels, and expand renewable energy.

In a statement of WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taala, he said, “The year 2015 ushered in a new era of optimism and climate action with the Paris climate change agreement. But it will also make history as marking a new era of climate change reality with record high greenhouse gas concentrations,”

“The key issue here is to go from this kind of political will to concrete action,” he told a news conference in Geneva. “So far we haven’t seen a major change in the behavior.”

An observatory at Mauna Loa in Hawaii is the main measuring station with records back to 1958. It “predicts that carbon dioxide concentrations will stay above 400 ppm for the whole of 2016 and not dip below that level for many generations”, he added.

WMO’s atmospheric environment research chief Oksana Tarasova seconded the notion. He said, “Carbon dioxide levels will continue rising unless the world stops burning fossil fuels and starts planting trees, the technology is there. It’s just human will. If we want we can do it”. He recalls Europe’s successful efforts to combat acid rain by tackling sulfur and nitrogen emissions.

“You can bend the curve. If you take an action and you sign a treaty and everybody follows their commitments. It’s not magic.” She added.

Taalas said, “consequences of climate change, such as weather-related disasters, were set to continue even if emissions start to come down. We could see improvement in the 2060s if we start reducing emissions now.”

Man-made warming is blamed for causing heatwaves, downpours, droughts and rising ocean levels.

El-Niño boosts CO2 levels

The WMO said, the total level percentage of CO2 were at 400.0pm globally in 2015 while 2.3ppm from 2014.

El Niño warms the eastern pacific ocean. It is also the primary reason for the recent rapid increase of CO2 globally. Further, El Niño triggers droughts and wildfires in tropical regions. It reduces the ability of forests, vegetation and oceans to absorb carbon dioxide. This leaves more CO2 in the atmosphere.

A U.N. panel of climate scientists estimates that concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are at their highest in at least 800,000 years.

“The real elephant in the room is carbon dioxide, which remains in the atmosphere for thousands of years,” Taalas said.

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US Pledges All-Out Defense to Counter Grave North Korean Threat

The United States and South Korea said on Wednesday that North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs posed a grave security threat after repeated tests this year. Consequently, the two countries agreed to intensify diplomatic and military efforts to counter that threat.

The countries said they had agreed to establish a high-level Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group. The group’s purpose is to influence “the full breadth of national power” following talks in Washington between their foreign and defense ministers. This includes military coordination, information, diplomacy, and economic elements.

The United States would do whatever it has to protect itself, South Korea and other allies against North Korea, according to US Secretary of State John Kerry.

A joint statement by Kerry and Defense Secretary Ash Carter reiterated that any attack by North Korea would be crushed. It also stated that any use of nuclear weapons would be met with an effective and overwhelming response.

Kerry and Carter also reaffirmed the solid and unwavering US commitment to bring in the full range of its military capabilities. Their primary goal is to provide extended deterrence to South Korea. These military capabilities include conventional strike, the US nuclear umbrella, and missile defense capabilities.

Questioned on what the US could do to stop North Korea from conducting more nuclear tests following those in January and September, Kerry told a news conference: “We will up and energize those three things that we have already been doing and put greater pressure, put greater diplomacy to work, and put greater deterrence to work so that in every case, we will underscore the futility of what Kim Jong-un and North Korea are pursuing.”

He said the military alternative was a last option and Washington was exerting effort to tighten sanctions. This includes trying to seal off a loophole in UN steps that permitted North Korea to export coal for commerce.

Kerry said the United States, as part of the military effort, would position the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system to South Korea immediately.

China sharply resists deployment of the missile defense system, saying it would intrude on its own strategic deterrence.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se expressed North Korea was close to the final stage of nuclear weaponization. Due to this imminent threat, the allies would marshal “all tools in the toolkit” to defend themselves.

“Extended deterrence” could include permanent positioning of US strategic assets in South Korea. These assets involve F-22 stealth fighter jets, nuclear-capable B-52 and B-1B bombers, and nuclear-powered submarines.

Yun said he knew this would be deliberated on in talks between Carter and Han at the Pentagon on Thursday. He did not give further details.

Carter said earlier that Seoul and Washington would persist to modernize the alliance, appropriate new opportunities, and tackle developing threats. However, the Pentagon did not immediately respond when queried about the likelihood of such deployments.

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Another Apartment Stormed in Germany in Hunt For Refugee Planning Bomb Attack

Police commandos held a man in connection with a hunt for a Syrian refugee believed of plotting a bomb attack. They assaulted his apartment in the eastern city of Chemnitz on Sunday.

Saxony state criminal investigation office spokesman Tom Berhardt said that there were no casualties and no shots were fired during the incident. They’ve taken the man into custody and are questioning him now.

In another apartment the police stormed in the city on Saturday, they found explosives but lost track of Jaber Albakr, the 22-year-old suspect. He slipped through their hold after police spotted him at the door of the apartment block.

The quantity of explosive discovered suggests that the person was preparing to carry out an Islamist-motivated attack, a Federal Prosecutor’s Office spokesman said.

The apartment the police raided on Saturday yielded several hundred grams of explosives.

Unpopular policy

This development is unwelcome news for German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her open-door migrants policy has caused her conservatives to lose support to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Merkel said last month that she wished she could turn back time by several years. She wanted to better plan for last year’s inflow of close to one million refugees. The leader has yet to declare if she will pursue a fourth term as chancellor in next year’s election.

Islamic State claimed responsibility in July for attacks at a music festival in Ansbach and on a train near Wuerzburg.

Albakr is still at large with hundreds of police officers trying to track him down.

The government officially recognized Albakr as a refugee after he entered Germany last year. The police did not previously know him when they raided the first apartment after a tip-off from the domestic intelligence service.

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