Letter: Global warming

Sir: The US and Australia evidently discern so little danger from global warming that they see no need to curb their carbon dioxide emissions ("Paradise islands: will the world act to save them?", 24 November). Presumably, then, they would not mind signing up to a scheme to compensate people and nations adversely affected in the future, in "the unlikely event" that global warming proves to be a real threat.

It should not be beyond human imagination to come up with a scheme whereby nations emitting significant levels of carbon dioxide would share the liability based on, say, the total amounts of the gas that each would have emitted since 1990.

In some cases, cash payments might be enough; but for the millions displaced by rising sea levels, alternative citizenship might have to be offered. This really would give Australia a reason to consider its sustainable population level.

JIM HART

Edinburgh