Letters

Earth at the Tipping Point

Environmentalists and green-leaning readers applauded the urgency of our special report, which argued that the debate is over--global warming has tipped the climate of the planet into crisis. But others called our stories alarmist and questioned whether humanity can affect the forces of nature

Your special report on global warming [April 3] was thoroughly terrifying, for which I thank you. For too long has this issue been casually dismissed as a problem to be dealt with in the future. Why fret about a seemingly distant catastrophe when there exists a plethora of world-destroying crises to be worried about? Your report excellently detailed the many negative effects of global warming and, more important, stressed its immediacy. As a young person, I'm well aware that it is my generation to which many corporations and politicians wish to relegate this burden, and my generation will suffer the consequences of today's recklessness. I am especially frustrated by the Bush Administration's harmful environmental policies. Thank you for your efforts to educate the public about the threat of global warming, a threat more imminent than many have believed.

HANNAH JEWELL San Rafael, Calif.

There have been cycles of global warming and cooling since the world began. But trying to convince people that doom is just around the corner is irresponsible. TIME wants us to believe that Bush is the cause of the impending catastrophe, but the fact is, even the Clinton Administration never submitted the Kyoto treaty to the Senate for ratification. Can anyone imagine China, India or any other country renouncing the use of fossil fuels in sufficient quantities to make a difference?

JACK FOLEY Moore, Okla.

As a citizen of a country that signed the Kyoto treaty, I read TIME's cover headline urging me to be worried, and I thought, Don't tell me. Tell your President! Send a copy of your magazine to Bush on behalf of us Europeans. He is not listening to us. Maybe he has an ear for you, and will finally urge the U.S. Congress to ratify the treaty.

PIETER WALRAVEN Aix-en-Provence, France

TIME'S cover photo of a polar bear among shrinking ice floes broke my heart. Thanks for perfectly capturing a simple, real-life symptom of a complicated problem. We humans have to take responsibility for how our lifestyle affects the innocents around us. I know I'm motivated to do better.

MATTHEW M. COOPER Eugene, Ore.

Thank you, TIME, for your efforts to save our planet! Your cover story on global warming should send a message to policymakers around the world that those of us who have called on our leaders to take action to save Planet Earth have not been crying wolf. Climate change is creating catastrophic and nasty conditions. As I write, my town is installing solar-power panels on our town-hall building. Every government on the planet must start thinking globally and acting locally.

PAUL FEINER, TOWN SUPERVISOR Greenburgh, N.Y.

The report on global warming makes a convincing case that our planet is getting hotter, but shouldn't we at least be considering the possibility that we are going through a natural cycle that we can't stop or lessen? Reducing carbon dioxide may be a good idea, but shouldn't we also be thinking about how we can adapt to environmental change, as all species have had to do at some point?

CHARLES W. MEYER

Fremont, Calif.

Please do not advise us to "Be Worried." We can't halt global warming if we act like parents waiting up for a teenager out past curfew. We have to be proactive. We must make radical changes in the way we live, not just wring our hands while watching the catastrophe unfold.

VALERIE FONS Dowagiac, Mich.

Iran and the Bomb

In his Essay "Today Tehran, Tomorrow the World" [April 3], Charles Krauthammer stereotyped Iranians as followers of an "extreme and fanatical ideology" who would wield nuclear power recklessly. He argued that while good sense has kept other nations from using the atom bomb, Iran, "undeterred by the usual calculations of prudence and self-preservation," can't be trusted to respond that way. But Iranians are not suicidal. They know that they could be wiped out in a retaliatory attack. And Krauthammer neglected to mention that only the U.S. has used the Bomb. The real problem is the tyranny of established nuclear powers that bully and invade nonnuclear nations.

REEM NASR South Brunswick, N.J.

Krauthammer took a clear look at the mind of Iranian President Ahmadinejad, who has stated that Israel should be wiped off the map. Was that declaration empty rhetoric or a sincere vow? For the sake of the world, I pray that Ahmadinejad's words are just words.

LEO KHANG MENG Kuala Lumpur

The human race has lost all reason if we think any nation can be trusted with nuclear weapons. But then, had reason dictated, all nuclear weapons and the tools used to make them would have been destroyed right after Hiroshima. Sooner or later, whether by the hand of Iran, North Korea, Pakistan or even the U.S., those evil creations are going to be used again. It is sad that reason will prevail only if it is knocked into us.

KATIE O'FLYNN Dublin

Afghan Intolerance

Re "A Convert's Plight" [April 3], on the case of Abdul Rahman, the Afghan who was prosecuted for converting to Christianity and eventually found asylum in Italy: As a British-born Muslim with royal Afghan ancestry, I find it deeply disturbing that Rahman was treated unfairly because of a corrupt interpretation of Islamic law. No one should be forced to accept Islam, for submitting to coercion is not the same as heartfelt acceptance. Such misuse of Islamic law affects Muslims as much as it affects non-Muslims.

SYED ANSAR KHAN Wimbledon, England

Followers of other religions who convert to another faith are not subject to such draconian and medieval penalties. Although the vast majority of Muslims are undoubtedly tolerant and happy to live in peace with their neighbors and those of other faiths, Islam lends itself to corruption by fundamentalist extremists who twist its teachings to serve their own perverted ends.

ROBERT READMAN Bournemouth, England