Today the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a comprehensive and bleak forecast on global warming. The world's top climate experts forecast, according to Reuters, desertification, drought and rising sea levels. The poor will be hit hardest and hunger in Africa risks being a looming calamity.
The report goes on to make dire predictions on the thawing of glaciers, water shortages, hunger for millions because of falling crop yields.
Not surprisingly the committee negotiations on the final wording of the report were fraught with tension given the need to overcome the objections of the world's two favorite fossil fuel pushers on the block, Russia and Saudi Arabia, always looking after the planet's interest. And China, a snorter of Himalayan dimensions was not going to be a pushover either. The Chinese weren't too happy about references to climate change already affecting "many natural systems on all continents and some oceans".
But don't lose a wink. The United States (still a little ahead of the Chinese in the snorting department) was able to make it all OK for us. Our delegation was able to excise wording in the report stating that parts of North America may suffer "severe economic damage" from warming. There, do you feel better now?
Where does this administration continue to find these guys?