Climate Agreement in Doubt

Our Planet's natural ability to absorb greenhouse gasses is declining, putting us on a path to a catastrophic 6 degree temperature rise by the end of the century. This is the projection of a major new study, said to be the most comprehensive ever carried out. The hope was that these new findings would give greater urgency to the negotiations at Copenhagen.

The study, led by Corinne Le Quere and colleagues at the British Antarctic Survey, found that a recorded 29 per cent carbon increase carbon over the last decade has been partly the result of a drop in the amount of greenhouse gasses absorbed by the Planet's natural sinks.

The team has concluded that carbon sinks, such as forests, oceans, and soil, are now absorbing 55 per cent of carbon, compared with 60 per cent 50 years ago. This is indeed a worrying trend that could carry us past tipping level sooner that was previously estimated by the World's scientific community.

In view of this new information, the importance of a binding agreement at Copenhagen cannot be overstressed, but leaders such as Obama are now saying that the talks are not going to produce a legally binding treaty. We must all make our voice heard, and in every way we can, tell them that this is just not good enough!

Obama on Emission Cuts

An analysis by the United States Environmental Protection Agency shows that a Senate plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would cost the average American household around US$2 per week -- less than the cost of a cup of coffee. A small price to pay for leaving our descendants a safe and secure world.

President Obama, warned that:

"I think it is important to understand that the closer we get, the harder the opposition will fight and the more we will hear from those whose interests or ideology run counter to the much needed action that we are engaged in. There are those who will suggest that moving towards a clean energy will destroy our economy -- when it's the system that we currently have that endangers our prosperity and prevents us from creating millions of new jobs.

There are those who make cynical claims that contradict the overwhelming scientific evidence when it comes to climate change".

Mr.Obama continued, "So we're going to have to work on these folks, but understand there's also another myth we have to dispel, and this one is far more dangerous because we're somewhat more complicit in it. It is far more dangerous than any attack made by those who wish to stand in the way of progress, and that's the idea that there is little or nothing we can do.

It's pessimism. It's the pessimistic notion that our politics our too broken and our people are too unwilling to make hard choices for us to actually deal with this energy issue that we're facing......I reject that argument."