Global Warming Update

A prescient column by David Ignatius in the Washington Post looks beyond the effects of global warming on the earth's climate to it's effects on an overcrowded world. He writes:

Or take the problem of rising sea levels: Climate scientists are uncertain how fast the icecaps will melt and the seas will rise. But in Bangladesh, where millions of people live at or near sea level, even a small increase could produce a catastrophe. In a severe monsoon, 60 million to 100 million people could be forced to flee inundated areas, Schwartz warns, producing "the single greatest humanitarian crisis we have ever seen."

How much longer can the US and Australian governments ignore the threat. Only a couple of weeks ago, Nick Minchin, the Australian Finance Minister claimed in an newspaper interview that there remained an "ongoing debate about the extent of climate change". They really need to start thinking about the growing costs of ignoring this. If they think the illegal immigration problem is bad now...