[LINK] Post-Copenhagen

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Bernard writes,

> And neither are Brazil, South Africa, India and China [sure the 
> conference was a failure].  As far as they are concerned, the
> conference was a success ..


Yes .. as we all hope the world-agreement process succeeds. To me it is
astonishing how far our world community has evolved in my lifetime. Not
that long ago we had two world wars, and many linkers grew up expecting
the USSR (or China) to be dirty & quick nuking us any day real soon now.

And, without greenhouse agreement, such days could very speedily return.

For example. Around a sixth of the world depends on rivers that rise in 
the Himalayas, mainly in India and China. If (when) they dry up one may
safely bet a billion people will be eyeing-off parts of Australia where
what little water that there is does not depend on such glacier run-off.

And who'd blame them? Some water is a *lot* better than no water at all.

http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/12/21/0210227/Black-Soot-May-Be-
Aiding-Melting-In-the-Himalayas

"The Himalayas, home to some 10,000 glaciers, are the main source of
replenishment to lakes, streams, and some of the continent's mightiest
rivers, on which millions of people depend for their water supplies. 

Since the 1960s, the acreage covered by Himalayan glaciers has declined
by more than 20 percent with a rate of warming twice the global average
over the past 30 years. 

Now Live Science reports that tiny particles of pollution known as 'black
carbon' - and not heat-trapping greenhouse gases - may be causing much of
the rapid melting of glaciers in the Himalayas. 

'Tibet's glaciers are retreating at an alarming rate,' says James Hansen,
director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City. 

'Black soot is probably responsible for as much as half of the glacial
melt, and greenhouse gases are responsible for the rest.' 

The circulation of the atmosphere in the region causes much of the soot
laden air to 'pile up' against the Himalayas. The soot mixes with other
dust from nearby deserts, creating a massive brown cloud visible from
space that absorbs incoming solar radiation. 

As this layer heats up in the Himalayan foothills, it rises and enhances
the seasonal northward flow of humid monsoon winds, forcing moisture and
hot air up the slopes of the mountain range."

-- 

Cheers,
Stephen