Short-term Mitigation

Going into the Cancun talks, there was widespread consensus that it was unlikely that a legally-binding international agreement could be reached. With only two days to go in the conference this forecast is unlikely to change. That does not mean that meaningful steps could not be taken now to stall for time. There has been quite a bit of discussion and reference to the idea that short-term mitigation may provide a temporary way in which to decrease the mechanisms in the atmosphere leading to higher temperatures.

Methane and uncertainty

Another one of the feedback mechanisms that introduces a level of uncertainty into existing climate models is methane gas. If significant quantities of methane are added to the atmosphere as temperatures in the high latitudes increase, the amount of warming predicted by the models may in fact, be a serious underestimate of what actually occurs.

Methane is critical because it is a greenhouse gas like CO2 but it is much more efficient at trapping radiation and transforming it into heat energy than CO2. If a little goes a long way, a lot of methane...well, you get the picture.