Global warming: relax, nothing is going to happen

That is, nothing is going to happen at the United Nations when world political leaders meet on climate change. Whether you see global warming as man-made, part of a natural cycle or junk "science," there is little danger that anything will be done on an international scale.

China has its plan. Obama will say something. The European Union will push for stricter emission controls. Everybody who can make the case will beg for money to help their nation cope. Through it all, it's not clear that even if some political miracle produced a widely accepted global agreement that human activity could reverse what is happening on earth right now. We have no record of concerted human activity working on any other major problem beyond control of some infectious diseases. This is far more complex.

Meanwhile you polar bears, Inuit, Tongans and Bengladeshi, you're on your own. Hotter oceans be damned, it's full speed into the future.

Why so little movement on climate? One European official sees near gridlock in the talks. And then there's Afghanistan, the Middle East, genocide in Africa, bankers' bonuses. Much to do, so little time to pay attention. Whatever comes out of the U.N. meeting tomorrow will be given verbal support at the G20 meeting later this week in Pittsburgh. Relax, nothing will be done there either. No treaty signed. No numbers set in carbon.

A Chinese news service says clearly the problem is all about the money: who's got it, who gets it, who pays for what. And we all know there's no spare change in the bottom of the drawer these days. Relax, nothing will happen now.