Climatology

After two months of record-high temperatures and almost no rain, farmers across Bosnia report that crops, fruits and vegetables are withering away while cattle are losing weight and producing less milk.

The heat wave has also caused frequent fires, which have inflicted additional damage in several areas across Bosnia.

This summer's long-lasting drought has changes the appearance of the banks of the Sava River in Belgrade.

Due to low water, many barges and boats are now stranded on dry land.

President Barack Obama framed climate change as the toughest and most pressing challenge of our time on August 3, as he unveiled the first ever limits on US power plant emissions.

"No challenge poses a greater threat to our future and future generations than a change in climate," Obama said, warning: "There is such a thing as being too late."  

Climate change has far-reaching consequences for both the nature and society and it is the poor who are mostly left suffering, Pope Francis wrote in his 184-page encyclical published Thursday.

He called climate change "one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day" and urged a more thorough approach to environmental preservation.

France will organize and preside the 21st United Nations conference on climate change in December, French Ambassador to Romania Francois Saint-Paul announced on Thursday, opening a seminar on energy efficiency in Bucharest.

Photo credit: (c) Silviu MATEI / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

BELGRADE - The Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection has made an estimate of possibilities for reducing emissions of greenhouse effect gases in the period up to 2030, Minister Snezana Bogosavljavic Boskovic said on Monday.

BELGRADE - The total material damage caused by extreme climate and weather conditions in Serbia since 2000 is estimated at over EUR 5 billion, Minister of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Snezana Bogosavljevic Boskovic said on Monday.

Bulgaria will allocate a total of BGN 115 M under operational program Environment 2014-2020 for measures against air pollution, according to Deputy Environment Minister Pavel Gudzherov.

Gudzherov made clear Tuesday that the money would go to 29 Bulgarian municipalities which had reported very high levels of particle pollution.

US Secretary of State John Kerry on March 12 urged nations to set ambitious goals to curb greenhouse gases, warning climate change deniers that gambling with the Earth's future was a risky business as "there is no Planet B."        

The year 2014 was the hottest on record, "consistent" with a changing climate, the UN's weather agency said Feb. 2.
      
Average global air temperatures in 2014 were 0.57 degrees Celsius (1.03 degree Fahrenheit) higher than the long-term average of 14 C (57.2 F) in a 1961-1990 reference period, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a statement.