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Copenhage changes the ground on which we stand

admin /29 December, 2009

 

Copenhagen changes the ground on which we stand

The moral equivalent of slavery 66

 
21 Dec 2009 11:18 AM
by Ken Ward
 

abolition handbillAbolitionists were considered outrageous in their day … and yet.Library of CongressThe problem with relying on World War II as the historical parallel for an energetic, last-minute drive by the U.S. to save the world from climate cataclysm, is that it depends on domestic climate impacts equivalent to Pearl Harbor to kick the whole thing off. I have argued that only such conditions—say, two Category 5 hurricanes passing over Florida in a single season—will be powerful enough to knock business-as-usual-thinking off kilter, and that U.S. environmentalists ought to prepare for rapid, non-linear action within chaotic social circumstances. The problem with that analysis is that it will probably come too late to change the outcome, and it’s too grim to sustain hope.

Past decade the warmest since records began in 1850

admin /28 December, 2009

Past decade the warmest since records began in 1850

DEBORAH SMITH SCIENCE EDITOR

December 9, 2009

Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, holds up a temperature chart during a press conference at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen.

Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, holds up a temperature chart during a press conference at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen. Photo: AP

THIS year has been the third-hottest on record in Australia, and is ranked as the fifth-warmest globally.

A report by the World Meteorological Organisation, published last night, concluded that the decade from 2000 to 2009 was the warmest since instrumental climate records began in 1850.

In 2009, only the United States and Canada experienced conditions that were cooler than average. ”Given the current figures, large parts of southern Asia and central Africa are likely to have their warmest year on record,” the report said.

Published as world leaders gathered in Copenhagen to consider climate change, it highlights extreme weather conditions around the globe this year, including three ”exceptional heatwaves” in Australia, China’s worst drought in 50 years and the wettest October in the US in 115 years.

Tidal wave of retirees could break the bank

admin /28 December, 2009

Tidal wave of retirees could break the bank

Millions of boomers to start claiming pension
  • Will pay less tax, work less
  • A ‘double whammy’ to Australia’s finances

AUSTRALIA is on the crest of a demographic tsunami, with the first wave of 5.3 million baby boomers eligible for the age pension from next week.

The country’s money box faces the double whammy of paying for older Australians who need extra care and for workers who are retiring in greater numbers than ever before.

With the pension age for women still being phased up to 65, those born in 1946 – the first year of the baby boomer generation – will be entitled to claim a government-funded age pension from next year, when they turn 64.

Men born in 1946 will be in line for a pension a year later, when they turn 65.

How do I know China wrecked the Copenhage deal? I was in the room

admin /27 December, 2009

How do I know China wrecked the Copenhagen deal? I was in the room

As recriminations fly post-Copenhagen, one writer offers a fly-on-the-wall account of how talks failed

• Ed Miliband: China tried to hijack climate deal
• The key players and how they rate

A woman listens to Barack Obama's speech at Copenhagen climate change conference 18 December 2009

A woman listens to Barack Obama’s speech at the Copenhagen climate change conference on 18 December. Photograph: Axel Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

Copenhagen was a disaster. That much is agreed. But the truth about what actually happened is in danger of being lost amid the spin and inevitable mutual recriminations. The truth is this: China wrecked the talks, intentionally humiliated Barack Obama, and insisted on an awful “deal” so western leaders would walk away carrying the blame. How do I know this? Because I was in the room and saw it happen.

China’s strategy was simple: block the open negotiations for two weeks, and then ensure that the closed-door deal made it look as if the west had failed the world’s poor once again. And sure enough, the aid agencies, civil society movements and environmental groups all took the bait. The failure was “the inevitable result of rich countries refusing adequately and fairly to shoulder their overwhelming responsibility”, said Christian Aid. “Rich countries have bullied developing nations,” fumed Friends of the Earth International.

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