What Will The Humans Do?

Thus read the lead in ABC News reporter Bill Blakemore's story Three Sleepless Nights In A Global Emergency about the outcome of the Durban climate conference.

We could have endless fun answering Blakemore's question, but the simple answer in this case and all similar cases (e.g. the European Debt Crisis) is delay, postpone, procrastinate if the decision to be made is very difficult and the consequences of action are very painful. Bill provided the answer in paragraph #7 of his longer story.

“What will the humans do?”  Contentious nations bound by climate and empathy

Nature’s Edge Notebook – Durban Diary

DURBAN, South Africa – COP-17

blah, blah, blah...

And out of their endless work and attention to thousands of details came the morning’s headlines: The Kyoto Protocol binding many nations — but not the US, China or India — to strict carbon emission cuts was not only saved, but there was now an agreement among all nations — including the U.S., China and India — that by 2015, all countries would affirm binding legal agreements on carbon emissions that would go into effect by 2020.

The only reason there were three sleepless nights was that China, the United States and India—along with Russia, three of the four largest carbon polluters on Earth— were not willing to agree to any arrangement that would require them to change their collective behavior right now. And having sucessfully delayed their having to do anything at all in the here and now, they can proudly proclaim that nine years from now, they will do something. And four years from now, they will agree about what they will do five years from then.

This outcome was pleasing to Hopey-Changey, as Politico reports in Durban climate conference ends with deal for more deal-making—

Ultimately, the U.N.-led negotiations settled on a carefully worded compromise calling for "an agreed outcome with legal force" from all countries by 2015.

That language satisfied Obama administration demands to get both developed and developing countries, including China and India, to eventually put forward binding commitments — while postponing some of the most contentious decisions on the global warming accord until after November's presidential election. And it addressed European Union calls to establish a roadmap for countries not participating in the Kyoto Protocol to step forward with new mandatory climate change policies.

Implementation and ratification of the agreement — titled the 'Durban Platform for Enhanced Action' — is targeted for 2020.

Enhanced action? I may be mistaken, but isn't a presidential election already scheduled for 2016? And won't there be another one in 2020?

We have learned something today, which is always a good thing. We now know the answer to the always pertinent question what will the humans do?

Two Bonus Videos — Doug Stanhope on preserving an inhabitable Earth, and the "Do Nothing" Decade

 

 

Comments

[Shawn]

Dave,

I think today's column pretty much sums everything up in a nutshell. Or to paraphrase Kunstler - "we will just keep doing what we are doing until we can't..." It always made me want to bang someone's head against the wall when I saw that phrase - 'by 20xx' we will be (fill in the blank). Now, I've just sort of resigned from the whole thing other than as an interested observer. I'm kind of an old guy, but I think I'm going to live long enough to get to watch it all unwind.

I don't know how you keep pumping this stuff out (other than as some sort of therapeutic release) but please keep it rolling.

[Dave Cohen]

@Shawn

Sure, of course, it's practically the only therapeutic release left to me.

I mean, living on this planet with this bozo species -- Newt Gingrinch?!?!-- what's a man to do?

-- Dave

[Alexander Ač]

Dave and Shawn,

it is fine, coz Tyler Durden tells us we are fucked anyway:

"The European Death Spiral"

Humans will do A SHIT to reduce CO2, since it kills "economy"...

Cheers,

[Mike Roberts]

Yes, a presidential election may be scheduled for 2016 and one for 2020 but I find it hard to imagine that both of those will actually take place. It's getting harder and harder to see even a year out, or less!

[Alexander Ač]

Who is interested, here is new TEDx talk by prof. Michael Mann on climate change:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElI-XVGHCHs&feature=player_embedded

Alex

P.S. and here the ZH post: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/european-death-spiral

[xraymike79]

Dont forget the Chinese death spiral:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/313229-china-will-stumble-i-guarantee-it

[gardener1]

Quoth Dave
"blah, blah, blah..."

My sentiments exactly.

[John Theodorou]

Can't stand Julia Gillard (Oz PM in vid. 2) and her uncouth accent. Down Under she's know as Queen of the Bogans for this reason, her vacuous populism, eternal optimism and Australian exceptionalism. "Don't you know? We have kangaroos!"

[Jersey Patriot]

Russian research team astonished after finding 'fountains' of methane bubbling to surface

--

Earlier we found torch-like structures like this but they were only tens of metres in diameter. This is the first time that we've found continuous, powerful and impressive seeping structures, more than 1,000 metres in diameter. It's amazing," Dr Semiletov said. "I was most impressed by the sheer scale and high density of the plumes. Over a relatively small area we found more than 100, but over a wider area there should be thousands of them."

...

"In a very small area, less than 10,000 square miles, we have counted more than 100 fountains, or torch-like structures, bubbling through the water column and injected directly into the atmosphere from the seabed," Dr Semiletov said. "We carried out checks at about 115 stationary points and discovered methane fields of a fantastic scale – I think on a scale not seen before. Some plumes were a kilometre or more wide and the emissions went directly into the atmosphere – the concentration was a hundred times higher than normal."

--

When scientists say "amazing" and "most impressed", it means "SHIT!"

[Jersey Patriot]

The link didn't go through:

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/shock-as-retreat-of-arctic-sea-ice-releases-deadly-greenhouse-gas-6276134.html