E&T Engineering Technology Magazine December 2016 [antikvár]

OPINION EDITORI United Nations members aspire to limit global warming to 1.5°C, but ttiafs easier said than done. Editor'slie by Dickon BSME Awards 2016 Shortlisl^: Dickon Ross. Editor, business btand, monthly; John Rooney. Art Director, business brand; Justin Pollatd. Columnist, business brand TABBIE Awards 2DI6 Gold Awatd. Best Special Section: Dickon floss. John Rooney, Chris Edwards, Cnsptn Antlrews, Caroline Dliott. Spedmrn- Gold Award. Besi Regular Column: Vitali Wtaliev, 'Atter All' Silver Award, Fioiit cover, digital imagery: John Rocrey, David McCullough, Nadia Ahdout, Gillian Abbott, •Immigration' Honourahie menilon. Feature Aiiiele: Chris Edwards. 'Recipe lor de-extinction- BSME Rising Stats 2016 Shortlisted: Rest Art Team; Best Features Team; Best Print Writer {Crispin Andrews) PPA Awards 2016 ^ortlistrt: Clem Chambers, Columnist o( the Year, Business Media; Vitali yiialiev. Columnist of the Year, Business Media; Amanda Williams, Business Leader ol Ihe Year Drum Digital Media Awards 2016 E6T Display Advertising tfeam, B2B Digital Sales tfeam ol the Year Digital Magazine Awards 2015 Finalist, News 6 Business app ol the year For a lull list go lo www.EarcItmagazine.com/aboul-us a Jonaihan Wilson online ediioii ItoiKatiaMostcvilcl ireiezaPultarQva,Jacl:___ ne FStnelLortü Sharps 1 UNITED NATIONS representatives 1 gathering in Marrakech for their annual i meeting on climate change have something i to be cheerful about for once. It kicks off just ; days after their 2015 Paris Agreement came i into force. The UN agreed to limit climate i change to 2°C by 2050 and aims for an even i more ambitious 1.5''C. It gained enough : government ratifications in October-achieved with unprecedented speed for a process expected to take years. At last, something seems to be going right with global negotiations to tackle climate change. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said: "This is a momentous occasion. What once seemed unthinkable is now unstoppable." Let's hope so. The two problems facing the world's nations now are how to ensure global warming stays within that l.ST limit, and how to cope with the dramatic changes brought about by what seems like a small rise to the public on a cold winter's day but is in fact huge in environmental, ecological and even geological terms. Last week the 35th International Geological Congress in South Africa said warmer temperatures are contributing to permanent changes in the Earth's rocks and announced that the world had entered a new geological epoch named the Anthropocene. How will nations cope? Unevenly is the answer. The world's wealthiest countries contribute far more than their fair share to global warming but it's the poorest ones that will feel it worst. Hillary Clarke looks at what l.S^C will mean for Africa and its peoples and how they may be able to leapfrog technology generations to mitigate the effects. Crispin Andrews looks at what 1.5X will mean for wildlife migration patterns and how technology could help conservation experts protect the increasing number of endangered species before many disappear forever. Rebecca Pool looks at the crucial differences between the effects of 1.5° and 2''C rises and what has to be done to meet those limits. Following the good news about the Paris Agreement, the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate said global spending on infrastructure wiU need to double to $90tn (L70tn) in the next 15 years. "Investing in sustainable infrastructure is the wisest decision we can take for our future," said former Mexican President Felipe Calderón, who leads the commission. The report called for a rapid phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies, which it estimated at $550bn in 2014. There are some who believe the world can move to 100 per cent renewable energy We examine how they think the UK and the world can achieve that. For the UK, it would mean some solar, a lot of wind turbines and an awful lot of storage. 1.5°C will change aU our lives in ways that are hard to predict, but we use recent studies on everything from spiders to sex, to identify a dozen likely developments, good and bad. Finally, do give us your vote for the world's worst electrical wiring. We have ten horror-shows sent in by readers to choose from on pages 12-13. Take a close look if you dare and then vote online, blt.ly/crossed-wires-1611 Did you know? that August was the hottest month on record Seasonal temperature cycle (^C)