COP21 - Paris Climate Conference

[Leeman4Gilmour]

I'm either blind or a thread on this topic hasn't been started. I know there's a lot of threads about climate change, but I think this is a big enough deal to have its own thread. Anyway, a simple look at how we got to this conference:

http://www.nature.com/news/the-fragi...mework-1.18861

And the COP21 website:

http://www.cop21.gouv.fr/en/

Other than the starter links, I suppose a starting point for discussion would be whether or not this conference will be more effective than the conferences beforehand?

With the IPCC finally stating it was clear humans were causing global warming, I believe there will be more of a sense of urgency. It'll be interesting to see what does come out of this though.

[CroFlames]

I read somewhere that Canada is "back". I didn't know Canada went on vacation.

[Shazam]

Is anthropogenic CO2 output going down to zero in the next two years?

No?

Carry on then.

[northcrunk]

Who the hell cares!??

[Looch City]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I read somewhere that Canada is "back". I didn't know Canada went on vacation.

I think what they meant was "Sexy's back".

[GGG]

If the go is to be Effective in reducing the rate at which CO2 emissions are increasing then I think it will be successful.

If the goal is to prevent two degrees of warming then no we don't have the will to do it.

[Fuzz]

Are China and India going to commit to anything meaningful before 2030? No? Well OK, then, there is your answer.

[Swift]

I was walking down the street with my Chinese buddy and Indian buddy and we were stopped and asked if we would like to donate $20 to charity. I reached for my wallet, but both my buddies declined. At which point I said, "#### it, why should I get hit in the pocket while those guys do nothing? I'd rather do nothing too"

[Looch City]

Originally Posted by Cameron Swift

I was walking down the street with my Chinese buddy and Indian buddy and we were stopped and asked if we would like to donate $20 to charity. I reached for my wallet, but both my buddies declined. At which point I said, "#### it, why should I get hit in the pocket while those guys do nothing? I'd rather do nothing too"

False.

Your Chinese friend would donate tree fiddy and your Indian friend would haggle down to $5.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Cameron Swift

I was walking down the street with my Chinese buddy and Indian buddy and we were stopped and asked if we would like to donate $20 to charity. I reached for my wallet, but both my buddies declined. At which point I said, "#### it, why should I get hit in the pocket while those guys do nothing? I'd rather do nothing too"

Nah. It's more like all three of you are kicking the crap out of a dog, and all three of you agree to kick the dog just a little bit less, and the dog lives for just a little bit longer.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

False.

Your Chinese friend would donate tree fiddy and your Indian friend would haggle down to $5.

More along the line that the Chinese friend slips a hidden bill to the donation, then brags later that he gave $20.00 but in reality he gave $1.00, then asks you for money for future donations of his choosing. Then he goes home and enters a $50.00 donation into his home accounting software, but he actually spent $49.00 on guns, but his wife brags to the neighbors that he generously donated $50.00 to the homeless.

[craigwd]

Originally Posted by Cameron Swift

I was walking down the street with my Chinese buddy and Indian buddy and we were stopped and asked if we would like to donate $20 to charity. I reached for my wallet, but both my buddies declined. At which point I said, "#### it, why should I get hit in the pocket while those guys do nothing? I'd rather do nothing too"

Every day I throw my small coffee cup on the ground when I'm done with it.

The guy next to me litters a bunch of pizza boxes, some pop bottles and his napkins.

It's okay if I keep littering because it's just a little bit compared to the other guy. If I stop the change in garbage is negligible.

[zamler]

So what are they actually doing at this conference?

[Chingas]

^Taking money from poor people in rich countries and giving it to rich people in poor countries.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by craigwd

Every day I throw my small coffee cup on the ground when I'm done with it.

The guy next to me litters a bunch of pizza boxes, some pop bottles and his napkins.

It's okay if I keep littering because it's just a little bit compared to the other guy. If I stop the change in garbage is negligible.

So lets add on to this. Basically the guy that litters a little is a nice guy that doesn't say boo, so everyone yells at him and shames him and demands that he change his evil ways including the guy next to him.

Meanwhile nobody goes after the guy next to him because he's a little more famous and a bunch more powerful so they basically ignore his littering ways, yet they feel better about themselves because the guy that dropped the cup picked it up, then they go back to their big houses by wadding through the field of garbage left by the guy next to them.

[Leeman4Gilmour]

Originally Posted by zamler

So what are they actually doing at this conference?

The end goal is to form a binding agreement between 150 countries to reduce carbon emissions. As you can tell, there's a lot of cynicism and deservedly so as this has been attempted a few times with limited, or no, success. The difference at this one is that each nation has formed their own plan based on what they feel is realistic for their country. Some are more aggressive than others. As has been the case from day 1, the developing countries (China and India in particular) feel they have a right to grow economically the same way as the western nations, i.e. burn a bunch of fossil fuels. They feel the western nations should provide them with economic stimulus to allow them to grow while the phase out fossil fuel based energy generation, coal in particular. The reasoning behind this is "we" essentially created the problem in the first place. It's important to note that this isn't really debated, but the amount of stimulus obviously is.

The other key difference is this is the first climate conference where there really isn't a debate about whether or not global warming has been influenced by man. The latest IPCC report finally states this. In the past, the IPCC was always a bit wishy washy on providing this conclusion.

Lastly, when put all together, the carbon reduction plans as they stand fail to meet the goal of limiting a temperature rise to under 2 degrees Celcius. Right now, we're estimated to see a rise of 3.5 to 3.8 degrees Celcius. That's under 4 degrees which is good, but still significant enough to make some climatologists (and anyone living on a coast) pretty anxious.

[craigwd]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

So lets add on to this. Basically the guy that litters a little is a nice guy that doesn't say boo, so everyone yells at him and shames him and demands that he change his evil ways including the guy next to him.

Meanwhile nobody goes after the guy next to him because he's a little more famous and a bunch more powerful so they basically ignore his littering ways, yet they feel better about themselves because the guy that dropped the cup picked it up, then they go back to their big houses by wadding through the field of garbage left by the guy next to them.

And what did your parents tell you when dealing with situations like this?

Rise above it.

Stand up for your principles, be a leader and inspire others to follow you. Teach those that don't know better.

[Thor]

Didn't JFK not say "Ask not what this planet can do for you, but what you can do for it"

Humans will only start taking real steps once the pain of the problem starts to become more than the pleasure of their current life.

IE politicians will be unlikely to solve this or do anything that meaningful. My hope is left with science, technology to clean up our mess, otherwise we will have a pretty rough go on this planet for 100's of years, just hope we don't reach the runaway warming where it will create a massive extinction event.

[Fuzz]

Good thing we committed to close our 8 coal plants. The world is saved!!!

Oh, wait...

[troutman]

NASA scientists react to 400 ppm carbon milestone

http://climate.nasa.gov/400ppmquotes/