This could be the year that humanity at last recognises its responsibility to keep Planet Earth habitable as a safe home for all its creatures. Industrialisation allied to population growth has resulted in the pollution of the atmosphere to the point where rises in temperature have become a significant threat to the delicate balance of the ecosystem. The polar ice cap is rapidly retreating; the atmosphere is becoming wilder and less predictable. Two key events may combine to achieve global agreement to take such steps as are necessary to limit temperature rises resulting from human activity to a level that the planet can just about tolerate. That will bring some relief from the sort of natural catastrophes that unchecked global warming is already starting to cause. Invariably those who su