Typhoon in Philippines Casts Long Shadow Over UN Talks on Climate Treaty

Those worried about climate change are not waiting for scientific deliberation that Typhoon Haiyan is a consequence of a warming planet. The typhoon is reported to have killed thousands in the Philippines, and relief organizations struggle to reach survivors with needed food, water and supplies. Some delegates in Warsaw for UN talks on a climate treaty point to the typhoon as “the cost of inaction,” reports the New York Times. “The effect of climate change on storms in the Pacific is especially difficult to study, scientists said, because no governments fly research planes into storms there to gather data.” Instead, researchers largely rely on satellite data and caution against conclusions based on one storm. Increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere – the result of burning fossil fuels – adds to warmer temperatures, more precipitation, faster wind compounded by rising seas and storm surges. The article concludes that developing nations want advanced economies, which historically have used the most fossil fuels, to shoulder most costs; developed nations on their part want fast-growing economies like China to share that burden. – YaleGlobal