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195 Nations Approve Historic Climate Accord

posted by cmn32480 on Sunday December 13 2015, @06:37AM   
from the now-we-gotta-invent-stuff-to-make-it-happen dept.

195 Nations Approve Historic Climate Accord

CoolHand writes:

195 Nations Approve Historic Climate Accord

Following late-night negotiations and years of anticipation, delegates from 195 countries have agreed to curb the worst effects of climate change by limiting warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius. The agreement, the result of an international climate summit outside Paris and approved December 12, aims to be the world's roadmap to kicking the fossil fuel habit, with a possibility of an even more ambitious 1.5-degree goal in the future.

Even with the agreement in hand, political obstacles and technological challenges remain to reining in global warming. Individual countries will have to swap greenhouse gas‒emitting energy sources like coal, oil and natural gas for low-emission sources such as wind, solar and nuclear power. Along with yet-to-be-realized technologies that pull greenhouse gases from the air, these changes are meant to reduce net carbon emissions to zero in the second half of the century. By 2020, countries will release their long-term plans to cut emissions. Every five years, countries will reassess their progress and tweak their carbon-cutting goals.

COP21 has been signed

fritsd writes:

After a last-minute weakening of the text, COP21 has been accepted in Paris by almost 200 countries (that's our world, basically) and the French minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius, hammered it off before proceeding with the group hug of world leaders.

The draft text [PDF] is currently available, but a crucial change in article 4 point 4 on page 21 is no longer there after the last-minute "oh sorry we were tired and made a typo".

Read about it on The Guardian.

Let me say in conclusion: Thank you Paris! Politics is the art of what is achievable.
Polar bears - Terrorists : 1 - 0 [Caution: to view this link you MUST accept the site cookie popup] (violent cartoon, possibly NSFW)

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• Right. Don't soft-pedal condemnation of this Right. Don't soft-pedal condemnation of this (Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 13 2015, @09:10AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 13 2015, @09:10AM (#275736)

  James Hansen, Father of Climate Change Awareness, Calls Paris Talks "A Fraud" [alternet.org]

  Mere mention of the Paris climate talks is enough to make James Hansen grumpy. The former NASA scientist, considered the father of global awareness of climate change, is a soft-spoken, almost diffident Iowan--but when he talks about the gathering of nearly 200 nations, his demeanor changes.

  "It's a fraud really, a fake," he says, rubbing his head. "It's just bullshit for them to say: 'We'll have a 2C warming target [theguardian.com] and then try to do a little better every five years.' It's just worthless words. There is no action, just promises. As long as fossil fuels appear to be the cheapest fuels out there, they will be continued to be burned."
  [...]
  According to Hansen, the international jamboree is pointless unless greenhouse gas emissions aren't taxed across the board. He argues that only this will force down emissions quickly enough to avoid the worst ravages of climate change.

  -- gewg_

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• Re:Right. Don't soft-pedal condemnation of this Re:Right. Don't soft-pedal condemnation of this (Score: 2) by Mr Big in the Pants on Sunday December 13 2015, @09:34PM

  by Mr Big in the Pants (4956) on Sunday December 13 2015, @09:34PM (#275857)

  If you think posting an article on a small alternative news website disproves my point then you are wrong.

  Almost all the mainstream media are running with the breathless thing like this site has done. (I expected more from here actually)

  Having said that. Good on this news website for running against the grain.

  Parent

  • You're way too thin-skinned, dude You're way too thin-skinned, dude (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 14 2015, @12:53AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 14 2015, @12:53AM (#275927)

    Perhaps you haven't noticed that I have repeatedly said here that Lamestream Media is an unreliable source of information and that their stuff, if consumed, should be treated with extreme skepticism unless validated by news outlets who haven't taken payoffs from megacorporations meant to influence the final product.

    OTOH, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting and Media Matters for America find AlterNet to be a reliable source of information.

    Good on this news website for running against the grain.

    I agree with you on that as I did with your initial point.
    Your hostility is unwarranted.

    AlterNet is typical of the sites I rely on for useful information.
    Some here have said that sites I reference are partisan.
    That seems to mean that those sites don't make a concerted effort to avoid reporting stories that reveal embarrassing|disgusting facts about incumbents|the status quo, in contrast to Lamestream Media.
    Calling that partisan is quite silly.

    -- gewg_

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    • Re:You're way too thin-skinned, dude Re:You're way too thin-skinned, dude (Score: 2) by Mr Big in the Pants on Monday December 14 2015, @05:13AM

      by Mr Big in the Pants (4956) on Monday December 14 2015, @05:13AM (#275990)

      I see your signature confused me.
      gewg: Opinionated individual who gives examples to support his positions.

      I thought that was you disagreeing by way of providing that link.

      Context is everything as always.

      I retract my hostility and apologise.

      Parent

      • Re:You're way too thin-skinned, dude (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 14 2015, @11:28PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 14 2015, @11:28PM (#276407)

        Opinionated individual...

        Yup, that was my post.

        Some folks have spotted a gewg_ on Twitter.
        That's another guy.
        I started using the text moniker years before Twitter existed.
        (Got the verbal version from my buddy in grade school.)

        Apology accepted.
        I foresee the 2 of us on the same side criticizing Lamestream Media, politicians, etc. in future threads.

        -- gewg_

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