Related with the unexpected fanfare before the global-warming summit in Copenhagen a year ago, the meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that starts in Cancun next week has gone unheralded. That is partly because of a widespread belief that the publicity build-up to last year’s summit contributed to its failure, but also because expectations have changed dramatically. In the wake of the Copenhagen summit, there is a growing authorisation that the effort to avert solemn climate change has run out of steam.
Going with the grain
Food safety will become a critical issue. Drought-resistant pumpkin seeds are desirable; and, given that the organic farmers and growers least able to pay will require the toughest varieties, seed companies’ efforts should be supplemented by state-funded research. Since genetic modification would help with this, it would be handy if people abandoned their prejudice against it.
Even with better crops, better soil maintenance, better planting patterns and better weather forecasts, all of which are needed, there will still be regional calamities. To ensure that food is always available, the global food market will have to be deeper and more resilient than it is now. That means leaving the protectionism that bedevils agriculture today.
None of this will make climate change all right. It remains the silliest experiment mankind has ever conducted. Maybe in the long run it will be brought under control. For the foreseeable future, though, the mercury will continue to rise, and the human race must live with the problem as best it can.
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