Fifty Days and Counting

While America struggles to come a little closer to joining the civilized world on universal health care, UK leaders are focused on the civilized world's survival. Prime Minister Brown warned on Monday that the nations of the world have 50 days to get their act together on the Climate Crisis negotiations in Copenhagen, and if action isn't taken, Brown painted a graphic picture of what Europe is in for--more frequent and more intense killer heat waves, flooding and disease:

"If we do not reach a deal at this time, let us be in no doubt: once the damage from unchecked emissions growth is done, no retrospective global agreement, in some future period, can undo that choice. So we should never allow ourselves to lose sight of the catastrophe we face if present warming trends continue."

After India, China and Brazil made news with their at least rhetorical support for significant action, UK leaders (including Prince Charles) are trying to broker a global deal. To that end, representatives of 17 nations held preliminary talks in London this week, and at least one Brit official pronounced himself "more hopeful" that a Copenhagen agreement can be reached.

Scientists in the UK have been the most outspoken (in the English speaking world at least) about the basic threat to human civilization of a runaway Climate Crisis, and Gordon Brown--otherwise not very popular in the UK--is focused on the issue.

This is the continuing story of trying to prevent the worst--what I've called the "Stop It" half of the Climate Crisis efforts. There is also increasing attention to the "Fix It" half, which unfortunately is starting to go by the bloodless misnomers of "adaptation" and "mitigation," words that only bureaucrats can love. But more on that anon.