Your February 2008 Editor’s Note on Pacific Northwest floods concluded with a reference to Robert Kunzig’s “Drying of the West” feature. It is also most important to report that California is not only experiencing severe reductions in clean water supplies, we are facing rising sea level consequences of melting ocean glaciers and ice sheets that are putting low-lying coastal California areas in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego regions, and the entire coastline at incredible risk of being increasingly flooded and submerged.

One ultimate solution to our out of control water problems is combination nuclear power and desalination plants along our coast, but this option seems to be out of the question politically and scientifically in time to do any good before thirst, floods and other climate change problems force too many of us to become a new breed of Anasazi Indian. Must we prove Harvard evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson’s conclusion that far-off catastrophes, engineered by our own species, are simply out of the range of human capacity for planning and action one last time?

Having spent a captivating two weeks in Japan with my 10 year-old son last year, I quickly flipped to the article on Basho. We traveled through some of these same areas, and I would love to purchase a copy, in translation of course, of "Narrow Road to a Far Province." Any recommendations on the best translation? And thanks for rekindling some wonderful memories.

For the most part I found the drying of the west article interesting, but my opinion is that your magazine is going overboard on global warming. I realize that global warming is one of the most important subjects for a magazine about geograhy. The problem is that it seems that your magazine is attributing any weather occurance that happens these days to global warming although storms and droughts have been occurring throughout time. Although the earth is warming at this time, it is not statistically proper to attribute everything to this as it goes to create an irrational sense of hysteria.

Chris, one of the greatest problems with IPCC pronouncements about global warming is that scientists have a major credibility problem, as Scott Kinney indicates above, and your most provocative NGC Naked Science Show: "Solar Force" show only tends to add to the confusion. You need to provide more comprehensive programming that includes all the root causes of climate changes that are occurring today in proper context.

It is no wonder that polls keep proving that most people are not considering global warming to be a highest priority requiring action because there is too much confusion created by the scientific community.

Meanwhile Washington politicians and their special interests aren't helping either, such as perpetuating UC Berkeley National Labs production of hydrogen bombs and their recent “alliance” with BP oil interests instead of producing acceptable nuclear energy sources to eliminate fossil fuel burning even after a half century of research since Teller's promise of “Controlled Fusion Soon!,” proving Eisenhower’s grave warnings in his 1961 Farewell Address about the Military-Industrial-Government-Academic Complex are still correct.

Chris, I watched “Six Degrees” on NGC last night, a most provocative and critically important documentary on the future of earth and humanity that everyone must see, think about and take actions on immediately.

So I couldn’t help wondering that if it was so important for all of us to know this information and act upon it with a sense of urgency, why wasn’t it shown on standard broadcast PBS and/or network channels so everyone in the world could see “Six Degrees” and think about taking actions immediately?

The most startling facts exposed in the documentary were that severe tipping point type problems have actually been occurring for decades, but it wasn’t until 2007 that the IPCC actually tried to do anything about it, so why did it take so long for the world’s scientific community to become alarmed if severe climate changes have already been in progress for decades?

Needless to say, the credibility of the world’s scientific community leaves a lot to be desired and that has become a problem when trying to influence people to take serious actions with any sense of urgency. The most obvious problem is that the scientific community creates makes it is too easy for fossil fuel related special interests to prevent necessary actions that may adversely impact their profits.

Current polls indicate that people do not yet consider global warming climate changes to require actions with any sense of urgency. The world’s scientific communities and governments must do a better job of educating and motivating people if any actions must be taken with any sense of urgency.

Now that the next March 2008 issue is delivered and the February issue is a dead issue, it is sad to observe that no one really seems to care about doing anything about the decline and fall of American science during the last half century that I have documented in this Editor’s Note.

I sincerely hope the Aspen Environment Forum accomplishes more actions to save humanity from climate changes and poverty than NGS, and IPCC, have been able to do so far.

It's time for the world of science to re-establish enough credibility to make the right things happen with a sense of urgency if life on earth really is getting as bad as NGM and IPCC say.

Or are the Manhattan Project and the discovery of quantum physics the end of the era of science that could have saved humanity? But since there isn’t even a Nobel Prize for Environmental Science, this appears to be merely one more rhetorical question DOA.

P.S. The answer to my question occurred to me, and pardon my skepticism, but it appears that an Environmental Forum in Aspen in March is more of a luxury ski type vacation for too many participants whose attendance and expenses will paid for by taxpayers.

And most sadly for humanity, Freeman Dyson's statements in his book Imagined Worlds “pure scientists have become more detached from the mundane needs of humanity, and the applied scientists have become more attached to immediate profitability,” along with Eisenhower’s grave warnings, appear to continue to be proven.

No wonder American scientists haven’t made any discoveries to protect and preserve humanity for over half a century, especially with any sense of urgency.

Just read "Six Degrees" the most disturbing book I've ever read. Disturbing in the fact that it is published by Natonal Geographic, not known for its fiction. Disturbing in the fact that everything I've done to be "greener" just isn't good enough. Disturbing in that the diehard global warming doubters (NPR, The World, 3/5/08)still don't get it. I don't have access to your NG channel so I haven't seen the TV version but everybody needs to see or read about this. As a lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest I can't imagine this region drying up and burning up but I can see how it could happen. I look outside my office window in downtown Seattle today and can see the snow capped Cascades clearly on this cloudless day but remember the dire warnings of that book and think about the potential disasters when there is no snowpack. It's very depressing and unfortunately I think it's going to happen. What is it going to take to get people to listen?