News from IFGR and the rivers of the world

According to the latest IPCC report, 99% of coral reefs and the very rich ecological systems associated with them could die if Earth warms by 2°C by 2100. Besides their aesthetic, cultural, and touristic value, coral reefs render numerous ecosystem services. About 500 million people in the world depend on coral reefs to feed themselves, […]

Mid-October, the Rhine in Germany reached its lowest known level, due to months without rain and temperatures above 30°C this summer. Its level at Cologne fell to 77 cm. Over 1,200 km long in a watershed covering 196,300 km², the fact that the Rhine crosses national borders and gives access to the sea makes it […]

Between 1970 and 2015, about 35% of the world’s wetlands disappeared. The rate has accelerated since 2000, according to a recent report by the Ramsar Convention (an international treaty on the conservation and sustainable management of wetlands ratified by 170 countries). These areas – considered by the Convention in a broad sense: lakes, rivers, marshes […]

Between 1970 and 2015, about 35% of Earth’s wetlands have disappeared. The pace has quickened since 2000, according to recent report from the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (on the conservation and sustainable management of wetlands ratified by 170 countries). These zones considered by the Convention cover a wide range: lakes, rivers, marshes and […]

In their report made public on 8 October, the UN’s climate experts presented the impacts of an increase in global temperature of 1.5°C in comparison to the preindustrial era. This scenario is the most probable between 2030 and 2052 at the current rhythm of CO2 emissions, although the scenario of a 2°C* increase cannot be […]

x4: the number of human disasters linked to the climate over the last 40 years This result of climate change is known: 400 disasters, i.e. 4 more than in the 1970s, were caused by climate deregulation in 2017. They include migrations of populations, famine, and increasing risks of conflict. Source: International Committee of the Red […]