Chill atmosphere   [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]

Since the United Nations climate change conference opened in Cancun on Nov 29, the lobby of my hotel has been filled with young reporters at night, all busy filing stories and ignoring the temptation of the sandy beach in front of the hotel.

However, despite their hard work, the newspapers I have read and the major TV networks have hardly mentioned the conference in the past week, despite the fact the Mexican beach resort is where probably the biggest threat to the human race is being discussed.

The headlines in New York were dominated by a quarter of a million US diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks, the fight over extending Bush's tax cuts, the repeal of "don't ask and don't tell" regarding gays and lesbians serving in the US army, and the controversy over the screening and pat-down at airports in the United States.

Climate change, sadly, is not news. For many media outlets it seems climate change is simply not "sexy" enough to attract viewers and sell newspaper copies.

Compared to the overly high expectations that surrounded the failed Copenhagen conference a year ago, the low expectations for any meaningful agreement at Cancun probably help explain why major US media have devoted so little space and airtime to the summit. The US itself is also in a much weakened position at the global climate talks which means the US media are more reluctant to publicize the talks. But however modest the expectations are and weak the US position is, the US media should fulfil its mission to inform the public about what's going on in Cancun.

They should explain why climate change is such an urgent issue, even when the US is enduring a prolonged economic recession and high unemployment.