On the eve of the Copenhagen conference, a group of scientists has issued an update on the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In the face of an incredible din of disinformation from climate deniers, they have mustered the latest and most credible evidence to inform global leaders and attentive publics just how perilous our present situation is. Among other dire warnings, they conclude that the icecaps at both poles are melting faster than predicted, that claims of recent global cooling are false, and that world leaders must act fast if steep temperature rises are to be avoided.

The report, and Elizabeth Kolbert's assessment, were issued just prior to proposals for greenhouse gas reductions by the world's two leading emitters: China and the United States, whose proposals emerged from a summit meeting of the leaders of the two countries. Together, the US and China account for fully forty percent of global emissions. Their proposed reductions appear to have renewed hopes for the December 7-18 Copenhagen talks. But the non-binding character of the proposals also shows how far we remain from reaching an agreement anywhere close to the scale that the science tells us is essential.