‘Young-earth creationism is an intellectual disaster, but anthropogenic climate-change* denial is, more, a moral disaster. It is not merely risible, it is repugnant; not just bad science but odious ideology. And world leaders for whom the penny has finally dropped – what do they do but loiter without intent, hands in pockets, counting their change? To wilful ignorance, economic self-interest, and political opportunism, add the global “bystander effect” – the more nations that witness other nations in even more distress than their own, the less likely any one nation will say “Enough is enough!” and act – well, one despairs even of damage limitation (like chemo with late-stage cancer). And you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows: extreme meteorological events, environmental devastation, human suffering will worsen; mass migrations and territorial conflict will ensue; only fundamentalists will rejoice – they’ll have a sodden field day with the book of Revelation. We say climate-change denial is an “opinion”; our grandchildren will ask us why we didn’t call it like it is – a sociopathology’. – Kim the doodle man.

* On the evidence for anthropogenic climate change, see the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report, released in 2007. A synthesis of the report can be accessed here. While it is no understatement to admit that I am considerably science-challenged, I found the report accessible, and deeply troubling. Heck, I reckon that even Tony Abbott and John Key could understand it, if they wanted to. The IPCC’s latest report is due out next week.