Why the Paris climate agreement is a big, big deal

Three cheers for international diplomacy!

The Eiffel Tower is lit up for the climate conference in Paris.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Francois Mori)

I was there in Copenhagen in 2009.

I remember the quiet conference hall and trains, filled with disappointment and despair as the international negotiations to address climate change unraveled. Rather than a detailed roadmap to a low-carbon future, nations "took note" (the technical United Nations term of agreeing something matters but not agreeing enough to sign it) of a two-page document filled mostly with platitudes. As I headed home, the indomitable, late climate scientist Stephen Schneider said to me, "Saving the world takes time. It's a long dance. We stumbled this time, but the dance goes on."

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Dr. William Anderegg received his Ph.D. in climate science and ecology from Stanford University. He is currently an assistant professor at the University of Utah.