Duuuuhhhh

(Reuters) - The world must change its energy habits or struggle with choking fumes, runaway oil demand and a growing dependence on the volatile Middle East for fuel, the International Energy Agency said on Monday.

Energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions will soar by more than 50 percent by 2030 if consumers keep burning oil unchecked, the IEA said in its World Energy Outlook. That would blow a hole in the Kyoto protocol aimed at cutting developed nations' emissions five percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.

The headline was "World's energy policy unsutainable-IEA". D'ya think?

Meanwhile,

One of the world's largest insurers warned today of the economic costs of global warming.

"Climate change will significantly affect the health of humans and ecosystems and these impacts will have economic consequences," concludes a new study cosponsored by Swiss Re, a global re-insurance company.

I just finished reading Fifty Degrees Below, Kim Stanley Robinson's latest. It's about what happens if the Atlantic current shifts suddenly - call it The Day After Tomorrow, but with brains instead of Jake Gyllenhaal. Basically, the American eastern seaboard can expect Siberian weather, and Europe and the US will see their agriculture suffer. The effort to try and mitigate climate change is led by a consortium of insurance companies. It's an excellent book, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes good science fiction.