CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT: HOT AIR IN KYOTO

UNLESS THE SUMMIT SUCCEEDS, WE'RE HEADED FOR MUCH WARMER WEATHER

Only a decade ago, the debate over global warming dealt mainly with whether it was a real problem or a Chicken Little scare story. In theory it made sense: we are burning more and more coal and oil; coal and oil generate carbon dioxide gas; carbon dioxide traps the sun's heat like the glass of a greenhouse. In theory, therefore, the earth's temperature should be on the rise--with potentially disastrous consequences that could include inundated coastlines, drastically altered weather, severe disturbances to agriculture, and tropical diseases' pushing into new territory. But the effect was still too small to be measured with...

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