What Are the Consequences of Copenhagen?

If you're like some of us over here at TakePart, you can't get enough coverage of the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. We even cover a lot of the news ourselves here. And that's why it's so exciting that over at The Daily Climate (TDC), today they are starting a four-part special report called "The Consequences of Copenhagen."

Written by TCD editor Douglas Fischer, every day from now through Friday the special will cover a different aspect of the Conference. Today, for example, concerns what is at stake in next month's meetings. Fischer writes:

This is the consequence of failure at Copenhagen: A marked shift in scientific effort from solving global warming to adapting to its consequences, a hodge-podge of uncoordinated local efforts to trim emissions – none of which deliver the necessary cuts – and an altered climate.

Climate experts, scientists and negotiators say that, absent international agreement, the children and grandchildren of those living today will negotiate a world where planetary geo-engineering is a part of daily life, sea-walls defend coastal cities, the world's poor are hammered by drought, floods and famine and our planet is heading toward conditions unseen for the last 100 million years.

And that's just the beginning of the report. The piece is a sprawling yet cohesive look at the challenges facing humanity as it combats climate change, and the effects of failure. Quoting numerous experts, Fischer gets down to brass tacks about what needs to be done, and why.  "Climate disruption is now a political question, an economics issue, a security threat." So, yes. The stakes are quite high.

Tomorrow, Fischer will tackle local governments. Thursday is geoengineers, and Friday is economics. I can't wait to see what he has to say, and I hope that you keep checking back with The Daily Climate all week to find out, too.

photo credit: thebadastronomer’s flickr photostream/Creative Commons