As we touched upon yesterday, today the European Commission released reports that could dampen the spirits of the most optimistic of souls.

Europe, the richest and most fertile continent and the model for the modern world, will be devastated by climate change, the European Union predicts today.

The ecosystems that have underpinned all European societies from Ancient Greece and Rome to present-day Britain and France, and which helped European civilisation gain global pre-eminence, will be disabled by remorselessly rising temperatures, EU scientists forecast in a remarkable report which is as ominous as it is detailed.

Much of the continent's age-old fertility, which gave the world the vine and the olive and now produces mountains of grain and dairy products, will not survive the climate change forecast for the coming century, the scientists say, and its wildlife will be devastated.

Europe's modern lifestyles, from summer package tours to winter skiing trips, will go the same way, they say, as the Mediterranean becomes too hot for holidays and snow and ice disappear from mountain ranges such as the Alps - with enormous economic consequences. The social consequences will also be felt as heat-related deaths rise and extreme weather events, such as storms and floods, become more violent.

The report, stark and uncompromising, marks a step change in Europe's own role in pushing for international action to combat climate change, as it will be used in a bid to commit the EU to ambitious new targets for cutting emissions of greenhouse gases.

The European Commission wants to hold back the rise in global temperatures to 2C above the pre-industrial level (at present, the level is 0.6C). To do that, it wants member states to commit to cutting back emissions of carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, to 30 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, as long as other developed countries agree to do the same.

Failing that, the EU would observe a unilateral target of a 20 per cent cut. - The Independent

But will these words fall on deaf ears? A BBC article from late last year, aptly titled 'Rhetoric Up, Action Down', has this description of how society is beginning to flex and strain - a pressure forming between those that want action and change, and those that wish for the status quo:

"The gap between what the science tells us is necessary and what the politics is delivering is still significant."

Not the words of an environmental campaigner or a frustrated climate scientist, but the plain assessment from Britain's Environment Secretary David Miliband as the 2006 round of United Nations climate negotiations whimpered to a close.

But environmental campaigners obviously agreed. Some groups even began direct action during the year, something which has traditionally been associated with a completely different power source, nuclear fission.

Coal-fired power stations in the UK, including Europe's biggest, Drax, were blockaded and attempts made to occupy them.

Tens, probably hundreds, of thousands marched on a co-ordinated day of action in November.

Musicians and actors joined the fray, as they did on poverty 20 years ago.

Climate change has started to become a popular cause.

Their argument is simply that the world's political leaders are failing to take the scientific evidence seriously. - BBC

In an interview that Prime Minister Tony Blair may yet live to regret, if he doesn't already, he made his stance on the issue quite clear. Don't make sacrifices, don't adjust your lifestyle, don't concentrate on being more energy efficient - just wait for scientists and inventors to invent us a way out of this!:

Tony Blair has told Sky News he will not give up long-haul holiday flights to help combat climate change.

Tony Blair - playing the waiting game

In an exclusive interview with Sky's Julie Etchingham, he argued the fight against global warming did not require unreasonable sacrifices....

Mr Blair rejected the need to set a personal example on greenhouse gases by taking breaks closer to home, insisting science was the key to tackling the problem.

"I think that what we need to do is to look at how you make air travel more energy efficient, how you develop the new fuels that will allow us to burn less energy and emit less," he said.

Mr Blair cautioned against setting people "unrealistic targets", adding: "It's like telling people you shouldn't drive anywhere."

But Greenpeace campaigner Emily Armistead said: "Tony Blair is crossing his fingers and hoping someone will invent aeroplanes that don't cause climate change.

"But that's like holding out for cigarettes that don't cause cancer. Hoping for the best isn't a policy, it's a delusion."

One of Mr Blair's own advisers, Jonathon Porritt, said the PM had shown a "complete failure to lead" for being "patchy and muddle-headed" on the climate change issue. - Sky News

I'm sure Mr. Blair is a busy man, so it will often be hard to take a little quiet time to just chill out and contemplate present realities. But, in case he should happen to pop by our humble blog here at Celsias, I'd like to remind him that as long as countries like China, India, Brazil, etc. keep growing at the rate they are, we seriously need to set an example of restraint and economy. Mr. Blair - that's a whole lot of pollution you're hoping will be invented away.