69 Days before the climate talks in Copenhagen

Photo by Jr Lo. Katipunan, Philippines

Reuters: "As climate negotiators prepared to sit down in Bangkok to one of the last major negotiating rounds before Copenhagen, they got a brutal reminder of why the talks matter: Typhoon Ketsana tore into the Philippines, submerging part of Manila and bringing a 40-year record in rainfall.

The resultant floods, brought about by 410mm of rainfall within 24 hours - twice the amount that drenched the United States during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 - have already killed over 140 people and affected 450,000

Experts say climate change is bringing more unpredictable and severe weather. According to Oxfam, the number of people affected by climate crises is projected to rise to 54 per cent to 375 million over the next six years.

However talks aimed at helping nations find ways to stem climate change and adapt to it remain bogged down in painstaking negotiations over text, threatening chances of an effective deal at Copenhagen in December to replace the now-expiring Kyoto Protocol.

This week’s flooding has killed at least nine people, including a toddler, in Georgia and continues to affect other southeastern states. Schools and roads have been shut down. Homes and businesses have been evacuated. On Tuesday, Gov. Sonny Perdue asked President Obama for about $16.4 million in federal emergency aid to 17 Georgia counties. The Chattahoochee River, which forms much of the boundary between Alabama and Georgia, rose to at least 12 feet over its minimum flood stage level ...Read the full story on Reuters >>