The chances of reaching a global accord on climate change are sinking fast, according to two leading climate scientists. The Times reports that Professor Kevin Anderson, director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, and Professor Trevor Davies, one of the centre's founders claim that the chances of getting an international deal at Copenhagen at the end of this year are likely to fail and that we need to come up with an alternative solution. According to the scientists, people are placing too much emphasis on technological solutions that have yet to be invented or proven.

The warnings coincide with findings from the supercomputer at the UK Met Office, reported here, that the best we can hope for is a 50:50 chance of keeping temperature increases just below the threshold of disaster.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that scientists say the coastal areas around the world will be flooded out because Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are melting faster than previously estimated. They warn we need to watch out for extensive flooding everywhere, from Bangladesh to Florida, from the Maldives to the Netherlands.