Climate Change Dispatch news

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• Cancún climate change deal falls flat, Kyoto Protocol on life support
• Snowmygawd! Blizzard rocks US Midwest, East Coast braces
• Global warming collapses stadium
• If their islands are drowning, why is the real estate so dear?
• The Cancun Crack-Up

Cancún climate change deal falls flat, Kyoto Protocol on life support Posted: 12 Dec 2010 12:02 PM PST The climate change conference in Cancún appears to have sealed the fate of the Kyoto Protocol, the only legally binding treaty to combat climate change, and left countries squabbling over the substance and form of a new treaty for the future. During the two-week meeting in Cancún, which ended Saturday, Japan said it would not commit to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions under the protocol after the first term of obligations for industrialized countries expires at the end of 2012. In effect, that means any emissions reductions by major industrial nations will be voluntary and at their own discretion – a far cry from the enduring, global commitment to reduce global warming agreed to in Kyoto 13 years ago.

Snowmygawd! Blizzard rocks US Midwest, East Coast braces Posted: 12 Dec 2010 11:57 AM PST Excerpt from AFP news: A fierce early winter storm pounded several Midwestern states and was moving east on Sunday, shutting busy airports and highways and snarling travel across about half the United States. Blizzard warnings were issued for parts of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin as snow socked the states in tandem with wind gusts topping 45 miles (72 kilometers) per hour.

Global warming collapses stadium Posted: 12 Dec 2010 09:21 AM PST From KARE in Minneapolis: "The inflatable roof of the Metrodome collapsed Sunday after a snowstorm that dumped 17 inches on Minneapolis. No one was hurt, but the roof failure sent the NFL scrambling to find a new venue for the Vikings' game against the New York Giants."

If their islands are drowning, why is the real estate so dear? Posted: 12 Dec 2010 09:07 AM PST Malé, capital of Maldives Eero Iloniemi is puzzled at Cancun: The prime minister of Tuvalu, Apisai Ielemia, said rich Westerners were allowing his nation to perish. He showed a group of journalists, me among them, a video of floods that threaten to wash his tiny Pacific island nation to the sea… 'Mr Prime Minister. In view of the impending deluge, how much have land prices fallen on Tuvalu?' I stammered.

The Cancun Crack-Up Posted: 12 Dec 2010 08:35 AM PST How appropriate that the U.N.'s latest climate summit in the Mexican resort of Cancun should have begun last week with the invocation of an ancient jaguar goddess. When it comes to global warming, there's always been more than a touch of the old-time religion. Unfortunately for the climateers, the rest of the Maya pantheon doesn't seem to be cooperating.

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