Much has been made of trying to hold the warming of the Earth's climate to less than two degrees Celsius above pre-Industrial Revolution levels. Mark Lynas, British author of Six Degrees: Life On A Hotter Planet, tries to sketch out what that might practically mean.

From the Guardian column by Rory Stewart on World Press Freedom Day:

Originally proclaimed by the United Nations' General Assembly in 1993, the occasion has also been marked since 1997 by the awarding of the annual UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize to a deserving person, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world - especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger. Significantly, the prize is named in honor of Guillermo Cano Isaza, a Colombian journalist who in 1986 was assassinated in front of the offices of his newspaper, El Espectador, in Bogota, for denouncing the activities of powerful drug barons in his country.

Twenty years later, journalists like Cano are still dying, simply for doing their job. In fact, last year saw a record number of journalists and media workers killed or thrown in prison around the world, with dozens dead in Iraq alone.

With reporters being killed or held hostage by groups in conflict, with governments jailing, threatening and censoring journalists and cyber dissidents for promoting democracy or political debate, and with drug traffickers, corrupt local politicians and other criminals getting rid of reporters, members of the media are literally risking their lives just to get the story. Every year it seems there are more and more dangers to be overcome. And, more and more, journalists are paying the ultimate price - losing their lives - simply to protect our right to know.

Find the transcript here.

And here's a preview post.