Temperature is increasingly at the mercy of the developing world.
The reason is that most future carbon emissions will not come from the currently industrialized world, but from the emerging economies, especially China. And China, which currently emits 30% more CO2 per year than the U.S., has not promised to cut actual emissions. It and other developing nations have promised only to cut their carbon "intensity," a technical term meaning emissions per unit of GDP.
Sounds good, but here's the catch: With 10% annual growth in China's economy, a 4% cut in intensity is actually a 6% annual increase in emissions. India and other developing countries have similar CO2 growth.
Every 10% cut in the U.S. is negated by one year of China's growth. By 2040 China could be the most economically dominant nation on earth. The West might be able to cajole it, but won't be able to impose sanctions on China. Temperature will be at the mercy of the newly powerful economies.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...072577680.html
Fascinating stuff from the US and EU leadership. We're going to cripple our economies eventhought our sacrifices and effort will be completely futile. Way to go.
And in other news, EU is going to feed African dictators and war lords with more "green money"
The leaders of Britain and France say EU leaders will commit more than euro2 billion ($3 billion) a year to help poorer parts of the world combat global warming.
The money is meant as short-term help for poor countries, particularly in Africa, to start cutting emissions and shoring up against the effects of global warming. The European money is a bid to bolster international climate talks in Copenhagen aiming at a longer-term pact.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091211/...u/eu_eu_summit
Way to go indeed...