A major UN climate science panel report to be published at the end of this month will spell out the impacts of climate change on humanity and the natural world.
Without radical change much of humanity faces decades of decline because the hunt for more growth can only mean that today's social, environmental and climate change problems will worsen.
Urgency derives from the nearness of climate tipping points, beyond which climate dynamics will cause rapid changes out of humanity's control.
That ambivalence is a far cry from the hopes that accompanied his early months in office, when he identified climate change as one of humanity's defining challenges.
Mr Woods's late father got carried away and said his son would "do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity".
His father, Earl Woods, even went so far as to call him "the Chosen One" and claimed that he would "do more than any other man to change the course of humanity".
Over the top with pride, his father, Earl, was quoted calling him "the Chosen One" and prophesying that Tiger would "do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity".
Four years ago, in sharp contrast to the torpor and denial of the George W. Bush years, President Obama described climate change as one of humanity's most pressing challenges and pledged an all-out effort to pass a cap-and-trade bill limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
He should say no, and for one overriding reason: A president who has repeatedly identified climate change as one of humanity's most pressing dangers cannot in good conscience approve a project that — even by the State Department's most cautious calculations — can only add to the problem.
Many of the details about his behavior are not new: pushing Tiger to practice for hours a day when he was two; booking him on "The Mike Douglas Show" before he turned three; claiming, ridiculously, the year Tiger turned pro, that his son "will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity".
