Zeller, Tom. "Climate Talks Open With Calls for Urgent Action." The New York Times. The New York Times, 7 Dec. 2009. Web. 9 Dec. 2009.
This article is one of the first to report on the events taking place during the Copenhagen UN climate change talks. So far, the tone of the meetings has been urgent, with the video that we saw in class being used to tug at the heart strings of diplomats. Many environmental scientists look forward to significant change in CO2 emission regulations, though some are hesitant after the recent email 'leak.' Many major polluting nations, such as Saudi Arabia, have grasped onto this freak incident in order to undermine the global climate change arguments. Fortunately, with President Obama and other powerful heads of state promising substantial change, the future of climate change seems to be taking a turn for the better.
The environmental and ecological impact of this article are monumental; the results of this meeting will determine the fate of the Earth, to put it lightly. The fact that so far nations' representatives have been agreeable to change leads to a tentative hope for an improved future. If Saudi Arabia and other oil-based nations can be overcome, the results of Copenhagen can be the effective change that the Kyoto Protocol was not. Scientists at the summit reported that if all nations followed the changes proposed by the United States, the earth's temperature increase could remain under the 2 degrees Celsius bench mark. Politically, this could restore the United States to the position it once held during the space race of the 1950s. After stagnating in the arena of science for decades, the United States could regain its role as a science leader, legitimizing its power within the UN. If this article forecasts incorrectly, however, the lack of change could spell doom for future generations. Even if some reports are sensationalized, global climate change cannot be denied. If no successful arrangement is reached, we could spiral dramatically down a path that could make Earth inhabitable in only a few centuries. The future of our generation lies in the hands of a few hundred diplomats in Copenhagen; let's hope they don't screw it up.
This is definitely a very important milestone in battling global climate change, and I too believe to some extent that the fate of the world could be determined here. I think it's important that some sort of solution comes out of Copenhagen, for the sake of the world. It may not affect us in our lifetime, but we don't want our children to have to pay for our mistakes. Keeping the total climate change under 2 degrees is very important. I think the people at Copenhagen realize this and realize the necessity for change and will make that happen.
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