No second chance

摘要

I agree with Harriet Coleman (22 August, p 24) that the debate about global warming is really about preserving our way of life, and that "in the worst case we will be trying to save enough civilisation not to have to start again from the Stone Age".rnHowever, I would also add that the chances of us being able to start again from the Stone Age are remote, since we will have blown what is most likely our only chance. Technological civilisation, as I think astronomer Fred Hoyle once pointed out, is almost certainly a one-shot affair, since it entails using up all the easily available resources and thereby making it virtually impossible for any subsequent civilisation to arise that uses anything other than muscle power, wind, water and burning wood.