Today: Climate talks, undersea noise pollution, CNN cuts, dirty phones

POZNAN UPDATE: Global climate talks are underway in Poznan, Poland, where the incoming Barack Obama administration is on the mind of many delegates. Representatives from China and India say they want the U.S. president-elect to demonstrate more commitment to tackling climate change. Obama has pledged to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. That's less than what the European Union nations have promised: a 20% cut from 1990 levels by 2020. “We don’t think it’s ambitious enough,” Su Wei, China’s lead negotiator at the Poznan talks, told Bloomberg. “We hope there will be movement.” The top U.S. representatives, Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky and chief White House environmental policy advisor James Connaughton, had a press conference today in Washington to talk about their plans for the event. And Greenpeace is making its presence known, too.

'COCKTAIL-PARTY EFFECT' AND WHALES: Human-made noises are drowning out the sounds that whales and dolphins make to communicate, according to U.N. officials and environmental groups. "Call it a cocktail-party effect," said Mark Simmonds, director of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. "You have to speak louder and louder until no one can hear each other anymore."

CNN REDUCES FOOTPRINT: CNN is eliminating its science and technology unit, costing seven people their jobs, including veteran space reporter Miles O’Brien. The network says it was an editorial decision, not a financial one.

NOT-SO-GREEN PHONES: Mobile phones are great for so many things, except maybe the environment. A research firm reports that, despite most vendors offering recycling options, fewer than 5% of the world's handsets will be fully recycled.

-- Steve Clow

Photo: A polar bear dummy in the foyer at the entrance to the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland. Credit: Alik Keplicz / Associated Press