At the world's largest summit on climate change in Copenhagen, a massive white globe at the Bella Centre may have inadvertently hinted at future consequences. Despite the oversight of not including small Pacific island nations like Tuvalu and the Cook Islands, as well as Antarctica on the model, the rising global temperatures are causing polar ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise. While island nations urged major economies like China and the US to reach a new climate agreement during the 12-day talks, the absence of these regions on the globe raised questions about the organisers' oversight. The UN climate talks concluded with a minimal agreement on Saturday, in which delegates acknowledged an accord reached by the United States, China, and other emerging powers. The agreement fell short of the conference's original goals, leading many to consider the talks a failure. The accord, which is less binding than a treaty and even weaker than anticipated, left many details unspecified. It aimed to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a threshold for potentially dangerous consequences such as floods, droughts, and rising sea levels, but did not outline how this goal would be met. The agreement offered the possibility of $100 billion in yearly assistance starting in 2020 for developing countries, but did not specify the source of this funding. It also postponed important decisions like emission reductions. The next climate talks are set for November 2010 in Mexico, where negotiators aim to finalize a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, although success is not assured.