Timely events !

The December meeting in Copenhagen will be make or break for efforts to slow global warming.

World leaders will either accept or reject firm limits for carbon reductions and these will have distorting effects on the world economy. Depending on which point of view is being expressed, carbon reduction plans will either create the loss of jobs or create new industries.

The economic meltdown that started in 08 threw a spanner in the works. Many thought that this was not the right time to take chances with a dodgy economy and job security. There was pressure for limits to be set low - and many people opted to delay implementing schemes until things improved.

Now a new roll of the dice has swung public thinking to support carbon reduction.

To our north a series of earthquakes and a tsunami have devastated Samoa and Sumatra in Indonesia, including western Papua New Guinea. Whole villages have been destroyed with heavy loss of life.

That has nothing to do with global warming. This area is located on " the ring of fire " where tectonic plates grind together, but it is noticeable that whenever people talk about global warming the conversation seems to automatically swing to include this volcanic activity.

That is certainly the case here in Australia, and most likely in the rest of the world.

It seems that the sheer coincidence of an unusual string of damaging earthquakes has linked people's perceptions to include these as part of the damage global warming is inflicting on the world.

Perhaps this misfortune will be the catalyst to swing wavering public opinion and bring pressure on world leaders to make decisions that might otherwise have been too timid to have any real effect.

If so, at least some good will have come from a disaster that has affected many !