December 9, 2009 - the day that "Copenhagen" beat out "Tiger Woods" in the rankings of hot search terms. Thank you, treehugger.com.

Ben Jervey is covering this story here and here.

Tuvalu, speaking for all of AOSIS (the Alliance of Small Island States, needs a legally-binding deal, and they want China, India, and other emerging economies to be factored into it. They’ve seen the science, run the numbers, and know that a world without limits on China’s and India’s emissions is a world in which they can’t survive.

In this meeting, Tuvalu spoke up early, asking for (again) a new contact group to discuss an amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, one that would lift emerging economic powers (and rapidly growing emitters) like China and India into their own category, with some responsibilities.  Obviously, China isn’t keen on this idea, preferring the current commitment-free arrangment. For a good 45 minutes, Tuvalu and China plead their cases, and a virtual roll-call emerged during which Parties took the floor for uncharacteristically brief comments of support. Lesotho: we support the Tuvalu proposal. Saudi Arabia: we support China’s proposal.

The US hasn’t been escaping pressure, either. Tuvalu’s lead negotiator Ian Fry led this morning’s plenary meeting  by calling out  the U.S. Senate and President Obama, urging “that the entire population of Tuvalu lives within 2 meters of sea level, that their very existence as a nation is at stake, and that he isn’t trying to embarrass anyone, cause trouble, or make a show, but merely serve the people of Tuvalu and protect their future.”

I’m cheering on Fry, for one. The Ocean State a whole lot riding on the projected rising sea levels. In this spring’s Projo article,  G. Wayne Miller describes the most optimistic real-life projection for the year 2100:

Buildings have been lost, roads displaced, parks submerged. Wells have gone bad, polluted by encroaching salt water. Septic systems have failed. Beaches and valuable coastal wetlands have disappeared. Even moderate storms now cause unprecedented damage as waves and surges at least 3 feet higher than nine decades before pack an unprecedented punch.

After the jump, learn about the effects on our shoreline here, and what protection is needed/anticipated. Read the rest of this entry »