By Prof. Jeff Niemitz I’ll admit from the outset that I know relatively little about the art of negotiation of the climate actions on the table in Durban.  I have learned a lot in the past two weeks however.  It is always hard to bridge the gap between the science and the policy implications that may go along with it.  This appears to be the case this year at COP-17.  The science, while well digested from the IPCC 2007 report, does not appear to be much of an influence on the negotiations 4 years hence.  Even a very important interim report from the IPCC on the increasing extreme weather events the world has been experiencing including the eastern US as you all know (excessive rain this fall, Hurricane Irene and Lee, … Read entire article »