The largest academic conference that has yet been devoted to the subject of climate change finished yesterday in Copenhagen. Between 2,000 and 2,500 researchers from around the world attended three days of meetings during which 600 oral presentations (together with several hundred posters on display) were delivered on topics ranging from the ethics of energy sufficiency to the role of icons in communicating climate change to the dynamics of continental ice sheets.
I attended the Conference, chaired a session, listened to several presentations, read a number of posters and talked with dozens of colleagues from around the world. The breadth of research on climate change being presented was impressive, as was the vigour and thoughtfulness of the informal discussions being conducted during coffee breaks, evening receptions and side-meetings.
What intrigued me most, however, was the
final conference statement issued yesterday, a statement drafted by the conference's Scientific Writing Team. It contained six key messages and was handed to the Danish Prime Minister Mr Anders Fogh Rasmusson. The messages focused, respectively, on Climatic Trends, Social Disruption, Long-term Strategy, Equity Dimensions, Inaction is Inexcusable, and Meeting the Challenge. A fuller version of this statement will be prepared and circulated to key negotiators and politicians ahead of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in December this year - also in Copenhagen.
Comment: The wave of propaganda from this so called Climate Congress is astounding. Here are just a few of the stories that the worldwide propaganda machine grabbed onto:
Propaganda: Global temperatures 'will rise 6C this century'
Propaganda: Global warming 'will be worse than expected' warns Stern
Propaganda: Amazon could shrink by 85% due to climate change, scientists say
Propaganda: Sea Levels May Rise Faster Than Expected
Propaganda: Warming Could Cut Population to 1 Billion
Propaganda: Scientists are grim, economists more optimistic about climate change's effects
Propaganda: Make clear dire scenarios to prod climate action
Propaganda: Scientists plan emergency summit on climate change
For an honest view of the conference that produced this psychological media wave see this story - (Link).