The climate change that will result is no trivial matter. Impres-
sive evidence is already available of the break-up of the polar
icecaps. The number of icebergs breaking off and floating south
from the Arctic ice sheet have significantly increased in recent
years, and a similar process has begun on the margins of Ant-
arctica. As they drift into ever lower latitudes they are likely to
alter the ocean currents, diverting the gulf stream to render the
climate of northwestern Europe similar to that of Labrador and
northern Canada, while currents like El Niño cause drought
and dessication in Southeast Asia.

The melting icecaps will raise the sea level to submerge large
portions of the coasts of the continents and many low-lying
islands, all of which at present are densely populated. Global
warming also portends more severe weather patterns, more
violent and more widespread hurricanes, larger and more pow-
erful tornadoes, bringing massive death and destruction to
tropical and even to presently temperate regions.

In these circumstances one would expect a serious and de-
termined effort to adopt measures to prevent the emission of
greenhouse gases, such as the redesign of the internal combus-
tion engine, enabling it to use cleaner fuels, the more wide-
spread use of renewable energy, the prevention and more
efficient disposal of industrial waste, the prohibition of felling
and burning of tropical rain forests and action to increase their
growth and spread to repair damage already done. But none of
these things are being seriously contemplated. In fact, destruc-
tive practices that have already proceeded much too far are
continuing unchecked.

Global warming is only one of the major threats to human
survival prevailing at the present time; the effects of ecological
disruption and the calamitous loss of species currently occur-
ring threaten to break the food chain and forebode starvation
to millions of people, posing serious threats to human survival.
And besides all this, the persistent failure of international or-
ganizations to eliminate war, ethnic cleansing (as in Bosnia and
Kosovo), internecine massacres (as in Rwanda), and the con-
tinued menace of nuclear holocaust (whether caused by acci-
dent, terrorism, or deliberate military strategy) is not being

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