LONDON -- Naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough used to be skeptical about how far climate change could be ascribed to human actions. He has now declared he is convinced that what we are doing or failing to do has had seriously damaging effects on the climate, and he has been demonstrating through programs on British television how climate change will affect all of us. He is giving yet another wake-up call to world leaders.
We must all be deeply concerned about climate change. Global warming may seem far-fetched during the unusually cool spring we have had this year in Britain. The threat of drought may seem exaggerated when the rain pours down. Yet, the scientific evidence about how human behavior is causing climate change is now overwhelming except to those who do not want to see it because it does not coincide with their preconceived notions or is not in their immediate political interest.
American leaders delude themselves when they deny global warming, which was probably the cause of last year's devastating Hurricane Katrina.