How I Spent My Fourth of July

True, I'm an American. But I spent the 4th of July in Beijing, talking over video to a big United Nations conference in Tokyo, about the most important number in the world.

The conference, at United Nations University, featured Jim Hansen detailing the science. I did my best to explain what the science meant in terms of the new international negotiations--mainly, the Copenhagen in December of 2009 represents our last chance to get things right. Others--notably Ted Nordhaus of the Breakthrough Institute--focused on the need for new technological innovation.

For me, though, the most notable part of the day was simply being in China, talking to Japan--and realizing, not for the first time, what a big planet and a small one it is at the same time.Happy Independence Day to the Americans reading this website, and Happy Interdependence Day to all of us.