Grim forecast for mankind

The iceberg of apathy is beginning to melt among the world's politicians as evidence becomes ever more starker about global warming. US President George W. Bush mentioned the threat of climate change in his State of the Union speech and in Australia the government is making the conservation of water a national priority.

Now scientists at the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate change predict that temperatures will rise by between 1 and 6.3 degrees Celsius by 2100. Even if confined to the lower end of their predictions this would be a catastrophe for mankind. Entire countries would disappear and billions of people made destitute and homeless.

This generation has a duty and responsibility to pass on the planet in state that is fit for human habitation. If not, we will earn the wrath of our children and their children. It is not too late to save the planet but it is far too late to pretend that nothing is seriously wrong.

There is no greater threat to mankind than the deteriorating environment. At least the issue is beginning to be taken seriously by leading politicians and enter the mainstream political arena. Generations from now may ask what took it so long.