"The failure of global climate negotiations to slow greenhouse gas emissions is fueling protest movements in the U.S. and other countries, as the effects of sea level rise, longer droughts and stronger storms begin to take a toll.

"More than 190 nations sent some 9,000 government officials, scientists and technicians to Cancun over the last two weeks, but the diplomatic arm-wrestling yielded little progress. That didn't sit well with thousands of environmentalists and social activists, many of them from California, who converged on the seaside resort to pressure negotiators.

"The negotiations were shrouded in a fog of unreality, said Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, a group that advocates drastic cuts in emissions to reduce carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere from the current 387 ppm to 350 ppm. The biggest and most powerful nations on Earth simply aren't paying attention to physics and chemistry."

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