Spiegel: Can a climate catastrophe still be averted? Scientists voice pessimism in a new study, which concludes that no matter what the Western industrialized nations do, China’s greenhouse emissions will be hard to stop. It sounds like wishful thinking: The United States, under new President Barack Obama, forges an alliance with China to combat emissions. The world’s two largest sources of carbon dioxide finally face the problem. The treaty crowns the United Nations Climate Change Conference …