Thus The New York Times today. “The agreement reached in Lima, Peru, would be a breakthrough in twenty years of efforts by the United Nations to create a serious global warming accord, but it falls short of what scientists say is needed,” elaborates the newspaper. Predictably, the accent is on the great achievement, but the poison is in the tail. The agreement requires that every nation comes up with a detailed domestic policy plan to limit its emissions of greenhouse gases within the next six months. These plans would form the basis of the accord to be signed in Paris next December and enacted by 2020. Splendid. But scientists claim that the emissions of greenhouse gases would have to be reduced by double the amount called for in the accord. Otherwise, the temperature of the atmosphere will rise above two degrees Celsius over the preindustrial average, which is known as the tipping point. Beyond that point, catastrophe awaits. Once all countries have put forward their plans for limiting emissions, scientists will add up the numbers to determine exactly how far they are from eschewing the tipping point. That figure will form the start of the last round of negotiations in Paris. The poison is in the tail, as I already said.