province to hold out against taliban rule. the u.s. secretary of state will visit qatar on sunday for talks in afghanistan. antony blinken says the taliban must stick to its promises for sanctions to be east. president biden says the u.s. must do more to prepare for future storms. 49 people have been killed in the northeast. it caused major flooding in new york, new jersey and pennsylvania. biden said investing in infrastructure would save lives and money in the long run. pres. biden: i know y'all are frustrated by how long it takes to restore power. it is dangerous work. 25,000 linemen from around the country have come here to the louisiana to help.

crews from 32 different states. and two of them lost their lives in the process of trying to get power back up. we are working 24/7. host: the was government could soon release classified files from the september 11 attacks. president biden ordered a full review of the documents days before the 20th anniversary. any files which can be declassified will be made public within six months. last month, victim families accused the u.s. of deliberately keeping documents under wraps. they say the papers prove saudi arabia aided al qaeda attackers. the european union and astrazeneca reached a deal to end a legal battle over slow deliveries of covid-19 vaccines. the pharmaceutical giant will now deliver 300 million doses by march next year, as agreed a year ago. the eu accused astrazeneca of acting in bad faith when it provided doses to the u.k. from plants in europe before filling

orders for the bloc. police in new zealand shot and killed a man after he stabbed six people at a supermarket in what the government is calling an isil inspired attack. the man was on a security watchlist. three of the injured are in critical condition. democratic republic of congo says it wants compensation after a diamond mind leak killed at least 12 people. the spill in late july is thought to have come from the wastewater dam of neighboring angola's largest diamond resort. drc officials say it made thousands of people ill. those are the headlines. inside story is next. ♪

>> from wildfires to floods, extreme weather events have become more common around the world. more rich countries are feeling their devastating impacts. will this lead to more action? how can we prepare for the challenges ahead? this is "inside story." ♪ welcome to the program. as global temperatures have soared in recent decades, there has been a significant increase in the number of weather related disasters. the u.n. is warning these conditions are likely to continue and worsen if we don't take action. at the moment the northeastern

u.s. is evaluating the destruction left behind by hurricane ida, which caused extensive damage from louisiana to new york city. first, this update from new jersey. >> the northeast woke up to flooded cities and impassable streets. many had to be rescued as the remnants of hurricane ida made their way north, more than three days after first making landfall thousands of kilometers away in louisiana. there were even tornadoes, seeming to catch heavily populated big cities like philadelphia off guard with record rainfall. serious flooding caused the complete shutdown of the subway system. the new york borough of queens suffered the most fatalities in the city. at least 12 residents dying as water flooded basement apartments. the first crisis for new york's new governor. >> the human loss, which is hard to imagine that people simply in

their cars, homes, basements, succumbed to the ravages of a brutal storm. their families must be in such pain this morning. reporter: in new jersey, governor phil murphy was visiting a town hit by those tornadoes, which left devastation normally associated with the southern united states. the ferocity of the storm took many by surprise, trapping families in basement apartments and motorists on roadways that quickly turned to rivers. more than 20 centimeters of rain fell overnight in some areas. that is as much as typically falls in the entire month of september. this man we spoke to in new jersey had stopped in his truck to take a video. >> look at this. reporter: water in the street suddenly began to rise. >> the river. >> all of a sudden i looked down the road and literally it was like a river coming towards me. me and my 12-year-old were with

me. i put it in four-wheel-drive and backed out real quick before it's emerged my truck. reporter: northeastern governors and president biden say the trail of destruction left by ida is yet more evidence of climate change. pres. biden: we need to act. when congress returns this month, i will press further action on my build back better plan that will make historic investments in electrical infrastructure, modernizing our roads, bridges, water systems. reporter: for those left counting the cost of ida's destruction, relief can't come soon enough. al jazeera, new jersey. host: the un says weather-related disasters have increased fivefold in the past 50 years. this year alone, w

record-breaking wildfires caused extensive damage in europe, siberia, and north america. the rise in global temperatures and warming of oceans have strengthened the intensity of tropical storms. that is causing extreme rainfall and devastating flooding from china to germany and now the u.s. still, more than 90% of deaths related to weather disasters have occurred in developing nations. medicus car injured four years of drought and is on the brink of the world's first climate induced famine. -- madagascar are endured four years of drought. in washington dc we have a planetary emergency partnership member and a former member of the environmental protection agency's national advisory committee. in the u.k., we have a professor of climate science in the department of meteorology at the university of reading, also the co-lead author of the intergovernmental panel on climate change report that has

just come out. in new delhi, ceo of the international forum for environment and sustainability. thank you for joining us. i want to start with what we've seen over the last week. as someone who has been involved with climate related policy in the u.s., i'm guessing what we've seen given the warnings around hurricane ida, the fires around lake tahoe, that none of this comes to surprise to you. >> in the united states, the unfolding climate crisis has been dealt with poorly by both political sides. on the right we have a policy denial, no policy, no commitment. on the left, we have a slow walk about, but often times in circles with not enough ambition. i think the left is more characterized by what you say as policy schizophrenia. a couple weeks ago, secretary blinken appointed as his top energy advisor someone from the

oil and gas sector. nothing could be more daft given this crisis. we have low ambition. president biden has put the united states back in the paris agreement. he put us in not in a more robust way. we have to get ahead of this crisis in a way that is fit for scale. if we don't, we will have more deaths and they will be concentrated on those at the margins of society. black and brown folks, folks living in basements that were not fit and so forth. we have policy incoherence that damns those on the margins. host: when i was trying to understand the destruction hurricane ida wrought, i came across a graph that struck me. it is looking at how the temperature of the oceans has

increased over the last century. that is a hugely significant jump. scientists are saying warmer water will make hurricanes stronger, slower, and wetter. you were the lead author on the water cycles part of the report. can you explain that phenomenon? >> tropical cyclones like ida are fueled by energy in the upper layer's of the ocean. if -- layers -- the upper layers of the ocean. given the impacts we are seeing across the united states, there are more water in a warmer atmosphere. that could compel a cyclone by releasing energy. it also powers the intensity of the rainfall. we have seen huge amounts of rain falling in a short time. that leads to severe impacts. the warming of climate due to humans has made the strongest

cyclones. it is making the rainfall heavier. when there is coastal inundation, sea levels are higher because of the melting ice and higher oceans. host: south asia has also been experiencing intensified flooding, associated landslides with that. over the last few months, really developed nations have been seeing some of the brunt of this. floods in western europe, the heat wave in canada, snow in texas. you have been working on these issues for years. now that richer countries are feeling more of the pain, do you think that will spur more action? >> i hope so. so far it is underdeveloped countries getting hit by extreme weather and no one cared. these things have been happening in my part of the world over the last decade and a half. i can very clearly remember in

early 2000's we had a devastating flood. this is happening every year. so far it was all about poor developing countries with low resilience. that could be ignored. but what we have seen this year is rich countries will not escape this devastation as well. what help and -- what happened in germany and belgium was not for people dying. the middle class got affected. the fire in california right now is affecting rich house owners. it is quite clear that climate change, even if you are a wealthy country, is not going to spare you. it is going to devastate economies, destroy infrastructure, and kill people. at this time, everyone realizes and accepts this fact and starts working together. host: let's take a look at what lies ahead for all of us. the ipcc expert report on

climate change that just came out last month summarizes quite a lot of this for policymakers. many changes in the climate system become larger in direct relation to increasing global warming. they include increases in the frequency and intensity of hot extremes, marine heat waves, heavy precipitation, ecological droughts in some regions, and proportion of intense tropical cyclones as reductions of arctic sea ice and permafrost. continued global warming is projected to further intensify the water cycle, monsoon precipitation, and the severity of wet and dry events. you are the author that drafted that statement. there is this call for the world to take immediate action to mitigate this. given what is locked into the system based on what we already admitted, this phrase inevitable, irreversible -- what should we be bracing for? >> some aspects are

irreversible, but a lot of the extremes we are seeing at the moment can be limited with strong, rapid, and sustained cuts in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. what we are seeing now is just the start, essentially. -- the start, essentially. if we keep warming unchecked, we will see extreme droughts, wildfire events, melting of ice intensify into the future. it's clearly obvious from the science, outlined in the ipcc report, that there needs to be a limiting of carbon dioxide emissions and greenhouse gases to stop this intensification. host: despite warnings from scientists like yourself, the speed and intensity of this events seems to be catching governments and every day people by surprise.

we have seen this plainly over the last week in the u.s. how are people there getting it so wrong in terms of predicting what will happen? >> i don't think really getting it wrong. we don't have a sufficiently robust response. we see that in the commitments to reduced admissions. president biden has certainly pointed the country in the right direction, but he's off the mark by as much as 100%. neutrality is no longer the destination. we have to think about carbon negativity and aggressively getting there, being on a pat hway that rapidly reduces in missions. -- in missions. we have to get out of moving federal subsidies into the thing causing the problem, the fossil fuel sector. we don't have a plan in the united states to get out of fossil fuels.

it is ridiculous after decades of reporting on climate change that there is no organized thinking at the federal government level to end fossil fuel subsidies. we have to check what is driving this problem, the fossil fuel sector, and ramp up aggressively the way in which we reduce emissions. if we don't do those things, we will be stuck with this problem in more catastrophic ways through time. host: you are talking about mitigating some of the emissions and impacts of those emissions. it seems we are on track to a 1.5 degrees celsius increase by 2030, if not the middle of this century? that is pretty terrifying. it's nto just -- not just about evacuating people, but much deeper adaptation, especially when it comes to infrastructure. you are sitting in south asia.

do you see the political will at home to get this done? >> i don't see political will in south asia and across the world. the fact is over the last 20 years there has not been significant change in our energy across the world. despite the fact that renewables are cheaper, 80% of our primary energy still comes from fossil fuels. the only difference is some countries burn coal and others burn natural gas. the europe -- the u.s. and europe burn natural gas and can claim they are doing great, but unfortunately they are not. the fossil fuel addiction in the developed world is also there in the developing world. we have to make sure -- and i want scientists to be much more upfront on this issue and say let's get rid of fossil fuels

over the next 20 to 30 years. before this extreme weather stuff hit the u.s., the debate was on oil prices. the biden administration wanted to lower oil prices just a few weeks back. that was the debate in the u.s. if you have these kinds of debates, how are you going to solve the climate crisis? unfortunately you are not. i think it is important that,, across the world the -- that, across the world, the political leadership understands we are talking about the end of the fossil fuel era. host: let's throw this to our resident scientist. so much of my understanding around this is around the unpredictability of events, not being able to prepare for the extreme weather that potentially lies ahead.i believe we have more data to do that as well as what happens

when multiple extreme events happen at once and how they are all linked. how reliably at the moment do you think we can predict you check, especially given -- predict the future, especially given things could change everything? >> there are certainly a huge number of ways we could be better prepared. first, to pick up on your previous guest's point which i completely agree with, the ipcc report is clear. it involves policymakers in the process of approving the summary. in it, it states we cannot limit warming to below 2 degrees or even 1.5 degrees preindustrial without these rapid sustained cuts in co2, but getting down to nancy or co2 emissions -- net z ero co2 emissions.

it has to be balanced out by sucking back carbon by the atmosphere by, for example, carbon capture and storage technologies and growing sustained, native forests. that is to pick up on your last guest's point. this is laid down clear in the ipcc report for policymakers. to your first guest as well, yeah, much more ambitious measures are needed to achieve it. moving to your second point, which talks about preparedness. some aspects are irreversible and some, like the extremes, we have one point will be 2 degrees above preindustrial, we will see intense extremes.

we have to adapt to some aspect of climate change. we can't avoid some of it. as we've seen in germany, in the summer due to the flooding, there was a slightly patchy geographical range in how prepared local regions were. the warnings are there because you can make weather forecasts. they are pretty accurate out to five days. we are able to use an array of observations to forecast in high-resolution. we are able to provide better preparedness in terms of forecasts. better preparedness for ongoing droughts, flash droughts that start to form, wildfire weather, hot, dry conditions, but also windy conditions. heavy and sustained rainfall falling on already wet cashman's. these need -- a lot more needs

to be done to reduce the impact of these. the aspects of the climate system are irreversible. one of these is sea level rise. even if we limit warming to 1.5 degreesc above preindustrial, we can expect over many hundreds of years, up to 2000 years, we can expect two to three meters of sea level rise. you can imagine what that will do to coastal cities. that is a very long-term timescale. it will still be a huge issue. existential for small island nations, which literally can't move above three meters. all these aspects need both mitigation to stop any further increases. the ipcc report states we could see a sea level rise of up to 22 meters in 2000 years if warming

spirals out to five degrees c. host: i want to bring in michael here on the adaptation issue. you served on the epa advisory committee under president obama and he watched after that as president trump took a vastly different approach. how can countries, cities deal with trying to put policies in place to adapt to issues like this when different administrations take such different approaches? >> it is profoundly difficult for them to make adaptations, particularly when there is incoherence at the federal government. this is a challenge that is not only unique to the u.s., but it plays out in many countries. you've got incoherent policymaking at the highest levels of government, whether in the u.s. or brazil or across europe, in india, you name it.

but you also have a great number of folks at the municipal level pushing hard, bringing in resources, rethinking policies to adapt to this unfolding crisis. you are seeing some of this now. we heard it with new york. we have to get new york city and the rest of the state better prepared to deal with these catastrophic weather events. i think there is hope at the minutes of the level, but it will be a constant battle when you have leaders that are ultimately not fit for purpose running countries. host: when you say there is hope for action, i want to turn to something mentioned about the rapidly decreasing cost of renewables. the price of solar energy dropped 89% in 10 years. that is massive. does it matter why countries

actually take action? could it be driven by bottom lines and a desire for more profit than a desire to save humanity? does it matter why -- does it matter why it happens? is it a cause for optimism? >> it is cause for optimism. we have electoral engines competing with -- electrical engines competing with the internal combustion engine. last year the world invested more in fossil fuels than clean energy. you have vast fossil fuel interests which is thriving across the world. there are reasons for it. there are countries that are completely dependent on oil revenues to survive, from nigeria to saudi arabia. then there are countries which are dependent on coal and gas. russia is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. there is a vast fossil fuel interest that exists in the world.

how do you get rid of that interest and replace it with clean energy interests is going to be the biggest challenge. on that front, i think it is important to realize that while developed countries have resources, developing countries don't have those resources. michael talked about new york investing billions in adaptation. unfortunately bangladesh or india or countries in africa don't have those kind of money. one of the big things we will have to do if you want this change to happen is move money where it matters. currently the money is moving to all the dirty practices. we have to move it to adaptation, to clean energy, to building resilience in society. until we are able to move the money, whatever we are talking about is very theoretical. it will not matter, even in the short term. host: we will have to see what happens at the climate talks

that we are expecting in november in glasgow. i want to give richard the last word. as a scientist, someone close to the data on this and writing this latest ipcc report, how do you presently feel about where we are as a species? do you have confidence in our ability to make choices to save and protect ourselves? respond to that very briefly, please. >> the science is clear. we know what has to be done. we are, i think, moving in the right direction, but far too slowly. this upcoming meeting in glasgow is absolutely crucial for policymakers to ramp up their ambition in terms of cutting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. >> there is so much on the line indeed. thank you to all of our guests

joining here today. michael, planetary emergency partnership member, a professor of climate science at the university of reading, and ceo of the international forum for environment sustainability and technology. thank you for joining us today. thank you, too, for watching. you can see this program again any time by visiting our website. do go to our facebook page for further discussion. do remember you can always join the conversation on twitter. our handle is @ajinsidestory. from the whole team in doha, bye for now. ♪

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