Scientists continue to tinker away with their computer models, but the bare-bones facts are clear. Even if we were to magically stop all greenhouse-gas emissions tomorrow the impact on global climate would continue for decades. Delay, any delay, will simply make the problem worse. The fact is that some of us are doing quite well the way things are. We in the developed world have built our prosperity on 150 years of cheap fossil fuels.
Gas heats our water and warms our homes and factories.
Our material progress has been linked to energy consumption. Today 75 per cent of all the world s energy is consumed by a quarter of the world s population. The average rich-world resident adds about 3.2 tons of CO 2 yearly to the atmosphere, more than four times the level added by each Third World citizen. There is a large dollop of self-interest involved in maintaining the status quo. Yet there is no question the ball is in our court.