At first glance, the Copenhagen conference seemed like an alternate universe—enormous, byzantine, and riddled with customs and folkways that weren’t at all obvious to someone who’s never been to such a meeting.

There was a palpable sense of history in the making across Europe as some 15,000 expected participants in the Copenhagen climate conference began to converge upon the Continent.

Even though reports continue to pour in about melting glaciers, sea ice loss, and temperatures across much of the globe remaining unusually warm, fewer and fewer Americans seem to believe the climate is warming.

Diplomats from almost 200 countries met in Copenhagen, Denmark, to huddle, confer, cajole, and eventually forge the structure of a new global agreement to reduce carbon emissions.

Few other parts of the world are showing climatic trends as distinct and ominous as Australia’s—and these changes are broadly consistent with what climate models tell us the 21st century has in store for the continent.