Climate change is like a very patient sniper. It lies in wait for its victims, and then at the worst possible moment pulls the trigger.
So far, Hansen’s team of crack sharpshooters has been only firing blanks.
Clock ticking on climate change
IT IS abundantly clear from the bickering in Bangkok last week that the latest round of climate talks will not lead to the adoption of a comprehensive agreement at the United Nations climate change summit in Durban next December. The United States and several other developed countries are seeking a deal that would simply build on the “incremental progress” achieved at last year’s conference in Cancún, whereas the developing world wants firm commitments that their richer cousins will make substantial cuts in greenhouse gas emissions under a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. The resulting Mexican stand-off has been, and will continue to be, at the core of these tortuous negotiations in the run-up to Durban and beyond.
One of the most significant aspects of the Cancún agreement was that, for the first time, governments of both developed and developing countries recognised that deep cuts in global emissions “are required . . . so as to hold the increase in global average temperatures below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels”. How this is to be translated into reality is the fundamental question that faces not only the 194 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, but humanity in general. Even US negotiator Jonathan Pershing conceded that current pledges to cut emissions fall “wildly short” of what would be needed if there is to be any chance of achieving the declared objective.
Yes, the US is such a wealthy nation, $14 trillon+ debt and (rapidly) counting! Just what we need, another boondogle project.