@So what’s to be done?@

Many problems nicely presented. For ancient Greeks Mother Earth was GAIA. To please her she needs to receive priority, which means the ocean, and the committed implementation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982), an absolute requirement for understanding and protection of the world weather (climate) system, as we are used to it, explained in two essays from the 1990s:

http://www.whatisclimate.com/1994-LOS-back-to-water-cheers.html

http://www.whatisclimate.com/1993-LOS-warming-up-science-or-climate.html