The atmosphere is to the earth as a layer of varnish is to a desktop globe. It is thin, fragile and essential for preserving the items on the surface.150 years of burning fossil fuel have overloaded the atmosphere to the point where the earth is ill. It now has a fever. Read the detailed article, Soothing Gaia’s Fever for an evocative account of that analogy. The items listed here detail progress on coordinating 6.5 billion people in the most critical project undertaken by humanity.Â
Australia’s bad faith at climate negotiations triggers Africa walkout Launceston, Thursday 5 November 2009 Kevin Rudd has been singled out by a leading African climate negotiatoras a leader failing to live up to his political promise as a meeting atglobal climate negotiations chaired by Australian negotiators ended withAfrican nations walking out in protest. The 55 Continue Reading →
Avoiding action on climate change because it might be too expensive is on a moral par with harming other people for money
Women in the village of Loboro in Turkana, Kenya, where nomads have been reduced to sacrificing their animals to survive drought. Photograph: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images
How should humanity share the cost of action on climate change? Without an answer to this question, the world will not secure a strong and binding deal on the climate at Copenhagen next month, and we will continue on a path towards an increasingly inhospitable world. As many key players have warned, there is a real chance of failure. The Swedish prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, warns that negotiations are faltering because the west is unwilling to offer financing to emerging economies, and the developing world won’t budge without the promise of cash.
A melted Arctic: gold mine or honey trap? Andrew Marszal 3rd November, 2009 As the melting Arctic ice cap opens a new ocean to the world, governments and private speculators are rushing to cash in on lucrative resource deposits and shipping lanes. But they may find these virgin waters a dangerous place to do business… Continue Reading →
November 04, 2009
THE US and Europe had agreed to “redouble” their efforts to combat global warming, President Obama said today, as European leaders pressed Washington to take action on climate change ahead of next month’s summit.
Mr Obama met top European leaders for an EU-US summit in Washington, shortly after German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered a heart-felt appeal for a climate protocol in a rare address to a joint session of the US Congress.
• Senate delay means no bill likely before Copenhagen
• German leader makes historic Congress address
Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel delivers remarks to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill, Washington DC, USA, 03 Nov 2009. Photograph: Rainer Jensen/EPA
International negotiators lost one of the key elements to a successful deal on global warming today after Democratic leaders in the US Congress ruled out passing a climate change law before 2010. In the latest obstacle on the road to the UN summit in Copenhagen next month, Senate leaders ordered a five-week pause to review the costs of the legislation.
International agreements take too long, we need a swift mobilisation not seen since the second world war
Time is running out to save civilisation from climate change. Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images
For those concerned about global warming, all eyes are on December’s UN climate change conference in Copenhagen. The stakes could not be higher. Almost every new report shows that the climate is changing even faster than the most dire projections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in their 2007 report.
Yet from my vantage point, internationally negotiated climate agreements are fast becoming obsolete for two reasons. First, since no government wants to concede too much compared with other governments, the negotiated goals for cutting carbon emissions will almost certainly be minimalist, not remotely approaching the bold cuts that are needed.