We're all dead

A study cited by The Independent maintains that global warming is past the point of no return. One of my students astutely pointed out that this should provide reason for the administration to avoid worrying themselves at all about polluting the rest of the atmosphere (or, rather, worrying in that political way about what other people think of them for not worrying about it).

A crucial global warming "tipping point" for the Earth, highlighted only last week by the British Government, has already been passed, with devastating consequences.

Research commissioned by The Independent reveals that the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has now crossed a threshold, set down by scientists from around the world at a conference in Britain last year, beyond which really dangerous climate change is likely to be unstoppable.

The implication is that some of global warming's worst predicted effects, from destruction of ecosystems to increased hunger and water shortages for billions of people, cannot now be avoided, whatever we do. It gives considerable force to the contention by the green guru Professor James Lovelock, put forward last month in The Independent, that climate change is now past the point of no return....