In 2016 which has been a zany year for the north pole, with multiple records set for low levels of monthly sea ice. 
●    The Arctic is super-hot, even as a vast area of cold polar air has been displaced over Siberia.
●    At the same time, one of the key indicators of the state of the Arctic the extent of sea ice covering the polar ocean is at a record low. 
●    The ice is freezing up again, as it always does this time of year after reaching its September low, but it isn’t doing so as rapidly as usual.
●    In fact, the ice’s area is even lower than it was during the record-low 2012.
●    This is the second year in a row that temperatures near the North Pole have risen to freakishly warm levels. 
●    During 2015’s final days, the temperature near the Pole spiked to the melting point thanks to a massive storm that pumped warm air into the region.

An important marker of progress in climate negotiations post the Paris accord, COP22 at Marrakesh, concluded here early on Saturday morning with negotiators from over 190 countries setting a deadline of 2018 to finalise the rule book, which would turn pledges made in Paris into action.
●    But the very fact that the conference (COP22) which was scheduled to conclude on Friday, stretched into the next day, showed that on tricky issues like finance, consensus remains elusive between the developed and the developing world.
●    A clear roadmap to meet the 2018 deadline was drawn out. 
●    The rules will specify the ways and means for measuring and accounting of emission reductions in all countries and they will be framed in such a way that it can take care of transparency of action of all countries as per their respective pledges under the agreement which was adopted by 195 countries in December last year in Paris.

India today asserted that all future actions on climate change must be firmly rooted in climate justice and issues like adopting a sustainable lifestyle will be central to its course of action.
●    Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave made the assertion in his meeting with Conference of Parties (COP22) president and Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar.
●    Dave told the COP President that India believes that all future actions must be firmly rooted in climate justice and issues like adopting sustainable lifestyle.
●    Mezouar also appreciated India's initiative in "stitching together a formidable" International Solar Alliance (ISA).
●    Both the leaders also discussed enhancing South-South Cooperation among other issues during the meeting.
●    The CoP22 started on November 7 and will go on till November 18.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on 14 November 2016 announced that the year 2016 is very likely be the hottest year on record. It stated that 2016 will likely surpass the previous hottest year, 2015.
●    It was mentioned in the WMO’s preliminary assessment provided in its Status of the Global Climate in 2016 report.
●    Earlier in July 2016, the WMO had announced that Carbon dioxide concentrations passed the symbolic milestone of 400 parts per million in the atmosphere in the ongoing year.
●    The preliminary data from 2016 reveal that global temperatures are 1.2° Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
●    The temperatures from January 2016 to September 2016 have been around 0.88° Celsius higher than the 14°C baseline set from 1961 to 1990.
●    The rise in temperatures for the first months of the year was driven by a strong El Nino during 2015 and 2016.
●    The extreme ocean heat by the El Nino had contributed to coral reef bleaching and above-average sea-level rise.

Worldwide emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide have flattened out in the past three years.
●    The authors of the study cautioned it was unclear whether the slowdown in CO2 emissions, mainly caused by declining coal use in China, was a permanent trend or a temporary blip.
●    "It is far too early to proclaim we have reached a peak," said co-author Glen Peters, a senior researcher at the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo.
●    The findings were issued at a United Nations talks on climate change underway in Marrakesh, Morocco.
●    The study, published in the journal Earth System Science Data, said global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industry were projected to grow by just 0.2 per cent this year.
●    The authors of the study attributed the slowdown mainly to a decrease in Chinese coal consumption since 2012. 
●    Coal is a major source of CO2 emissions.
●    The agreement calls for limiting warming to below 2 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial times.

Scientists have discovered a huge magmatic lake, 15 kilometres below a dormant volcano in South America, a finding that could unlock why and how volcanoes erupt.
●    The body of water - which is dissolved into partially molten rock at a temperature of almost 1,000 degrees Celsius - is the equivalent to what is found in some of the world's giant freshwater lakes, such as Lake Superior.
●    The finding by researchers from University of Bristol in the UK and colleagues has led scientists to consider if similar bodies of water may be 'hiding' under other volcanoes and could help explain why and how volcanoes erupt.
●    In order to characterise the partially molten region the team performed high temperature and pressure experiments at the University of Orleans in France.
●    This measured the electrical conductivity of the molten rock in the 'anomalous' region and concluded that there must be about eight to ten per cent of water dissolved in the silicate melt.
●    The researchers hope that better understanding of how water can trigger volcanic eruptions can improve predictions of when it is going to erupt.

India ranked fourth on the climate risk index for 2017, the Germany-based independent environmental organisation.
●    Its report, published at the outset of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) at Marrakech in Morocco, said there were 4,317 fatalities in 2015 due to extreme weather events in India with a total loss of $40 billion, making it the highest ranking country in terms of economic loss.
●    The report, the 12th edition of the Global Climate Risk Index, said: "India faced several types of extreme weather events in 2015.
●    But it said Africa is the continent that was hit hardest by extreme weather events in 2015.
●    According to the report, four out of the 10 most impacted countries globally are African. 
●    They are Mozambique (rank one), Malawi (rank three), Ghana and Madagascar (both rank eight).
●    Heat waves claimed most lives last year.
●    More than 4,300 deaths in India and more than 3,300 deaths in France show that both developing and developed countries, respectively, are impacted by extraordinary temperatures.The hardest hit countries in the period 1996-2015 were Honduras, Myanmar and Haiti.

The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Patricia Espinosa, announced on Sunday that 100 parties formally joined the Paris Agreement on climate change.
●    The announcement was made during a press conference before the official kick-off of the UNFCCC’s 22nd Conference of Parties (COP22) in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh on November 7.
●    The Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015 at the COP21 in Paris, was ratified in October by 96 countries and the European Union, and entered into force on November 4.
●    Espinosa said that the 100 parties who joined demonstrate “real climate action”.
●    She also announced that the first meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA1) would take place at COP22 on November 15.
●    Over 50,000 people are expected to attend COP22 in Morocco, including around 20,000 delegates, some 30,000 civil society members, over 40 heads of state and 30 heads of government.
●    Salaheddine Mezouar, COP22 President, stressed the importance of reaching tangible commitments from states and civil society during the 11-day climate change conference particularly regarding climate finance and adaptation.

The twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) and the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 12) will be held in Bab Ighli, Marrakech, Morocco from 7-18 November 2016.
●    On 5 October 2016, the threshold for entry into force of the Paris Agreement was achieved. The Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016. 
●    As a result, the first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA 1) will take place in Marrakech in conjunction with COP 22 and CMP 12.
●    The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international environmental treaty negotiated at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992, then entered into force on 21 March 1994. 
●    The UNFCCC objective is to "stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system".

The Paris Agreement officially entered into force on 4 November 2016. The agreement deals with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance.
●    The Paris Agreement’s entry into force comes a month after countries representing 55 per cent of the world’s emissions committed to joining the deal.
●    As of November 2016, 192 states and the European Union have signed the Agreement; 97 of those parties have ratified or acceded to the Agreement, most notably China, the United States and India.
●    The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
●    The language of the agreement was negotiated by representatives of 195 countries at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Paris and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015.
●    It was opened for signature on 22 April 2016 in a ceremony in New York City.
●    As of November 2016, 193 UNFCCC members have signed the treaty, 97 of which have ratified it.