News Quiz Q1. Which of the following events were in the news this past week? Current CMIP5 climate models don’t have Milankovitch cycles Obama and Xi reached an historical bilateral accord on climate The European Space Agency landed on Comet 67P People deny climate science because they don’t like solutions Olivine (a mineral) used as playgrounds will save the climate

An image taken by the Philae lander as it descended toward the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

BEIJING — China and the United States made common cause on Wednesday against the threat of climate change, staking out an ambitious joint plan to curb carbon emissions as a way to spur nations around the world to make their own cuts in greenhouse gases. The landmark agreement, jointly announced here by President Obama and President Xi Jinping, includes new targets for carbon emissions reductions by the United States and a first-ever commitment by China to stop its emissions from growing by 2030. Administration officials said the agreement, which was worked out quietly between the United States and China over nine months and included a letter from Mr. Obama to Mr. Xi proposing a joint approach, could galvanize efforts to negotiate a new global climate agreement by 2015.

The deal jointly announced in Beijing by President Obama and China’s president, Xi Jinping, to limit greenhouse gases well beyond their earlier pledges is both a major diplomatic breakthrough and — assuming both sides can carry out their promises — an enormously positive step in the uncertain battle against climate change. The announcement provided the high point of a trip that also resulted in steps to cut tariffs on information technology products, extend visas and strengthen military contacts to build trust and avoid confrontations in the South China Seas. But the two countries have major differences, including over cybersecurity and human rights. The climate accord represents a startling turnaround after years of futile efforts to cooperate in a meaningful way on global warming. It sends two critically important messages, one to the world and the other to the United States Congress. China and the United States together account for about 45 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Their new commitments are thus almost certain to energize other countries to set more ambitious targets of their own before negotiators meet to frame a new global agreement at the climate summit in Paris in December 2015.

http://today.duke.edu/2014/11/solutionaversion

News Quiz - Answer Q1. Which of the following events were in the news this past week? Current CMIP5 climate models don’t have Milankovitch cycles Obama and Xi reached an historical bilateral accord on climate The European Space Agency landed on Comet 67P People deny climate science because they don’t like solutions Olivine (a mineral) used as playgrounds will save the climate