Quotes of the Day

Environmentalists and green-leaning readers applauded the urgency of our special report, which argued that the debate is over — global warming has tipped the climate of the planet into crisis. But others called our stories alarmist and questioned whether humanity can affect the forces of nature

Your special report on global warming [April 3] was thoroughly terrifying, for which I thank you. For too long this issue has been casually dismissed as a problem to be dealt with in the future. Why fret about a seemingly distant catastrophe when there exists a plethora of world-destroying crises to be worried about? Your report excellently detailed the many negative effects of global warming and, more importantly, stressed its immediacy. As a young person, I'm well aware that it is my generation to which many corporations and politicians wish to relegate this burden, and my generation will suffer the consequences of today's recklessness. I am especially frustrated by the Bush Administration's harmful environmental policies. Thank you for your efforts to educate the public about the threat of global warming, a threat more imminent than many have believed.
Hannah Jewell
San Rafael, California, U.S.

Thank you for good, timely coverage of global warming. Since you explained that important problem clearly enough even for nonspecialists to understand, more people will worry, which is good. It is beyond my comprehension how the world's leading democracy and sole superpower can be so ignorant and not endorse the Kyoto treaty. If he did so, Bush would be making the biggest short-term contribution to reducing global warming. Each of us, however, must make an effort to show our respect for Mother Earth. I do my part by driving an electric car in town, and there is no sacrifice in that.
Emil S. Werring
Oslo

With the mass of evidence showing that our planet is in dire straits, I find it unbelievable that wealthy (and presumably intelligent and educated) people still buy SUVs for town use when they burn so much more fuel than smaller cars. Do those people simply not care about their children's and grandchildren's future? If successful, smart people are not prepared to change the way they live, then what hope have we got? Why do car companies keep producing gas-guzzling polluters? Why don't governments ban the production of large automobile engines?
Doug Austin
Cape Town

Please do not advise us to "be worried." We can't halt global warming if we act like parents waiting up for a teenager out past curfew. We have to be proactive. We must make radical changes in the way we live, not just wring our hands while watching the catastrophe unfold.
Valerie Fons
Dowagiac, Michigan, U.S.

As a citizen of a country that signed the Kyoto treaty, I read Time's cover headline urging me to be worried, and I thought, Don't tell me. Tell your President! Send a copy of your magazine to Bush on behalf of us Europeans. He is not listening to us. Maybe he has an ear for you, and will finally urge the U.S. Congress to ratify the treaty.
Pieter Walraven
Aix-en-Provence, France

Windmills and solar power are valuable sources of clean energy but clearly limited in their potential to meet soaring needs. In warning of catastrophic climate change, Time referred to the environmentalist James Lovelock and his notion of Earth as a living superorganism that he calls Gaia. But the story ignored his endorsement of nuclear power, about which he says, "There is at present no other safe, practical and economic substitute for the dangerous practice of burning carbon fuels."
Christina Ritch
London

time's report painted an alarming picture of what will happen to our Planet Earth within the next few decades as India and China increase greenhouse-gas emissions. But the West, led by the U.S., is pushing us to produce more greenhouse gas. Multinational corporations are prodding China and India to adopt the luxurious Western lifestyle so that they can sell us more of the goodies of modern life. But then the West points an accusing finger at us for doing just what it wants us to do. A little deeper thinking would show that unrestricted consumerism and sustainable development cannot go hand in hand.
Mukut Behari Lal
New Delhi

Iran and the Bomb
Charles Krauthammer took a clear look at the mind of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [April 3], who has stated that Israel should be wiped off the map. Was that declaration empty rhetoric or a sincere vow? For the sake of the world, I pray that Ahmadinejad's words are just words.
Leo Khang Meng
Kuala Lumpur

The human race has lost all reason if we think any nation can be trusted with nuclear weapons. But then, had reason dictated, all nuclear weapons and the tools used to make them would have been destroyed right after Hiroshima. The fear people lived in every day after World War II is not something that has been completely erased. Sooner or later, whether by the hand of Iran, North Korea, Pakistan or even the U.S., those evil creations are going to be used again. I do not fear that the human race will wipe itself out. Our species is very good at surviving. But I do find it sad that reason will prevail only if it is knocked into us, painfully.
Katie O'Flynn
Dublin

Afghan Intolerance
Re "A convert's plight" [april 3], on the case of Abdul Rahman, the Afghan who was prosecuted for converting to Christianity and eventually found asylum in Italy: As a British-born Muslim with royal Afghan ancestry, I find it deeply disturbing that Rahman was treated unfairly because of a corrupt interpretation of Islamic law. Tribal leaders intentionally misinterpret Islamic law to maintain power. No one should be forced to accept Islam, for submitting to coercion is not the same as heartfelt acceptance. Such twisted and extreme misuse of Islamic law affects Muslims as much as it affects non-Muslims.
Syed Ansar Khan
Wimbledon, England

Followers of other religions who convert to another faith are not subject to such draconian and medieval penalties. Although the vast majority of Muslims are undoubtedly tolerant and happy to live in peace with their neighbors and those of other faiths, Islam lends itself to corruption by fundamentalist extremists who twist its teachings to serve their own perverted ends.
Robert Readman
Bournemouth, England

A Government Out of Touch
Re "A strange kind of revolution" [April 3], author Jacques Marseille's essay on the French protests over the youth labor law: Having lived half my life in Britain and half in France, I've been able to note some enduring differences in the Gallic modus operandi. Among the many problems that France has, one is an élitist government. Too few of the ministers during the past 30 years have come up through the ranks from an ordinary background. They form a modern-day monarchical court. The buildings they work in are palatial, the apartments they live in are sumptuous, and the schools they attend to reach such lofty heights are prestigious. Their grasp of the realities of the average worker can only be patchy. That inevitably results in social eruptions.
Valda Lynen
Vallauris, France

Fair Trade for All
Your capsule history of economic globalization [March 27] outlined the ebb and flow of trade among nations over the centuries. I believe international investment is often inhibited because of the lack of a business structure that is fair and transparent for all participants. The worst feature of this century's globalization is that it is fast dividing the world into front-yard and backyard countries. To survive in the new world, huge populations living in the second category are being forced to take newly outsourced jobs that are at odds with their culture and undercut their self-esteem. The anger of people whose countries have only superficially benefited from globalization is rising.
Jamal A. Khan
Islamabad