Thus The New York Times today. “Even as United Nations negotiators gathering in South America this week expressed optimism that they may finally achieve a deal, experts caution it may not be enough to stave off the near-term impact of global warming,” explains the newspaper. After more than two decades of trying but failing to forge a global pact on climate change, the current optimism follows the recent landmark announcement of Barack Obama and Xi Jinping committing the world’s largest polluters to cuts in their emissions. Still, a growing number of scientists and climate-change experts warn that it may now be impossible to prevent the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere rising by two degrees Celsius, which is deemed to be the tipping point ushering drought, food and water shortages, melting ice sheets, shrinking glaciers, rising sea levels, and widespread flooding. The objective needs to shift to staving off even higher increases in the temperature of the atmosphere, which might make the planet increasingly uninhabitable. Enough said. And it all comes from a newspaper of great renown rather than an old grump who abhors the human race. Optimism, schmoptimism.