And the Hard Reality

Obama Presses Chinese to Move to Curb Warming - NYTimes.com 

And the hard reality... last three paragraphs of the story.

"If strong carbon-cutting policies are not enacted quickly, scientists
warn, the current trajectory of fossil fuel emissions will raise
temperature of the global atmosphere by two degrees Celsius, a tipping
point that is projected to lead to a future of rising sea levels,
extreme droughts and food shortages, floods, deluges and more powerful
storms.

To reach a deal by the end of 2015, United Nations officials said
countries must unveil concrete plans by April 1 that are to specify how
they will cut their energy-related fossil fuel pollution after 2020. To
be taken seriously, the plans must show how the governments will enforce
disruptive shifts to their economies, transitioning away from the
fossil fuels that have powered their homes and vehicles for a century.

Scientists said they were encouraged by the prospect of new climate policies, but
warned that for now, the efforts under discussion will not be enough to
prevent the first ravages of climate change.

“In the world that we live in, this is probably the best we can do right
now,” said Michael Oppenheimer, a climate scientist at Princeton
University. “It’s worth the effort. But it’s not going to solve the
problem. It’s not going to get us to two degrees. It‘s not even enough
to stave off three degrees.”