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REVIEWS: Ian Roberts Confession of a climate criminal BMJ 2005; 331: 643 [Full text]

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Amusing but serious as well

Graeme M Mackenzie   (20 September 2005)

The Climate Criminal's levity masks the real situation

Andrew G Rivett   (21 September 2005)

Amusing but serious as well 20 September 2005
Graeme M Mackenzie, gp Whitehaven CA28 7RG Send response to journal: Re: Amusing but serious as well	I like this article. However it is too amusing and therefore clouds the issue. How many group debates on all sorts of issues (in the pub or wherever) accurately state the problems and issues but actually never lead to any change in behaviour in the members of the group? It would seem the worlds problems are always someone else's reponsibility, even when we understand what needs to be done. Democracy, "freedom" and the need for us all to earn a living or even aspire to wealth, will always allow people to ignore the obvious solutions. Competing interests: None declared
The Climate Criminal's levity masks the real situation 21 September 2005
Andrew G Rivett, Associate Specialist, Health Protection Agency Hants & Isle of Wight Health Protection Unit, Oakley Road, Southampton SO16 4GX Send response to journal: Re: The Climate Criminal's levity masks the real situation	I enjoyed Prof Roberts' personal view (BMJ 2005; 331:643) with its sardonic look at the medical conference game in an environmental context. The article arrived hard on the heels of a news briefing on recent cyclones in the Bay of Bengal, where global warming is giving Bangladeshi farmers the triple whammy of rising sea levels, increasing river flows in the Ganges system with more melt-waters from the Himalaya, and more violent and more frequent cyclones and their associated storm surges. I doubt if they would find the article very amusing. Roberts highlights the fact that a market economy requires high consumption, which is becoming increasingly unsustainable. At a time when the leisure industry (what a curious apposition of ideas!) is fuelled by cheap flights, we have to ask, Just when are we going to take the situation seriously? Competing interests: None declared