Two Developments Climate Negotiators Should Heed
Two Developments Climate Negotiators Should Heed. Two news items from opposite ends of the carbon cycle are potentially hopeful signs for our planet's climate - and in principle could have a positive bearing on the international climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December.The Wall Street Journal on Friday reported on a U.S. Geological Survey report [PDF] suggesting that economically extractable coal reserves in the United States, typically measured at some 240 years' worth, could be substantially less abundant than previously thought - perhaps only half the estimated reserves.
At the opposite side of the carbon cycle, the United Nations Environment Programme released an interesting report [PDF] on the potential of the world's forests, farmland, and peatland to soak up atmospheric carbon.