CARBON-SINKS LOSING AGAINST EMISSIONS

Scientists attending the Copenhagen Climate-Change Conference say that the stabilising influence that the carbon-sinks have on climate-change is gradually weakening because the sinks are not keeping pace with rapidly rising emissions. Report in Science Daily.

A study looking back millions of years via 1280-metre core drilledn from under Antarctic's Ross Sea Ice Shelf adds to the worry, because it shows that the amount of carbon-dioxide now in the atmosphere is about what it was when the huge West Antarctica Ice Shelf last vanished.

If it were to vanish again global sea-levels would be about 7 metres higher.

HORROR WORLD WITHOUT OZONE SIMULATED

This report in Science Daily shows what the world would have been if we had not realised what our CFCs were doing to the vital ozone layer. It would have virtually collapsed in the middle of this century, with terrifying consequences.

That study underlines what we could and should be doing about climate-change. There are some new thoughts on the risks from that, again in Science Daily.

RISING OCEANS WILL IMPACT 600M PEOPLE

The predicted rise in global sea-levels by 2100 is now expected to be at least 1 metre, and heading for metres unless urgent action is taken, according to presentations at the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change in Copenhagen--report in ScienceDaily.

Even the best-case scenario will hit low-lying coastal areas that house a tenth of the global population--about 600 million people.