“This is, admittedly, a glum view of the future. But we can still avoid the new hot wars — or at least cool them down a bit. For starters, we should redouble our efforts to slow down global warming and undo the damage humanity has already done to the environment. Every little bit helps, so by all means, hassle your senator and recycle those bottles.

Beyond that, we need to get our heads around the idea that global warming is one of the most serious long-term threats to our national and personal security. For the next two decades or so, the climate will continue to change: Historic levels of built-up greenhouse gases will continue to warm the world — and spin it toward new patterns of conflict. So we need to do more than simply reverse climate change. We need to understand and react to it — ordinary people and governments alike — in ways that avoid conflict. Over the next few years, we may find that climate-change accords and peace treaties start to overlap more and more. And we may find that global warming is heating new conflicts up to the boiling point.”

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“Mr. Gore has gone so far to discourage debate on climate as to refer to those who question his simplistic view of the atmosphere as ‘flat-Earthers.’ This, too, is right on target, except for one tiny detail. It is exactly the opposite of the truth.

Indeed, it is Mr. Gore and his brethren who are flat-Earthers.”