Following up on previous summits and semi-summits, as summits tend to do, the World Earth Summit in Brussels, Belgium is working out the mechanics of a globe-girdling weather observation system.

When it's ready 10 years from now, the network will be called the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, have sensors everywhere, and monitor every natural event on the planet -- a kind of Carnivore or Echelon for meteorologists.

The Sumatran Tsunami is being used as a major selling point, of course, but the real driving force behind the information grid is (you guessed it, didn't you?)... Global Warming.

"Concerns about climate change driven by global warming are fueling proponents of such a system, [NOAA head Conrad] Lautenbacher says. The Kyoto Protocol, which commits 55 nations to limiting emissions of so-called greenhouse gases, also kicks off Wednesday in Brussels," duly reports USA Today.