Trump can’t axe climate protections - US’s environmental obligations

“Anyone who believes in indefinite growth on a physically finite planet is either mad or an economist” — Sir David Attenborough

JAKARTA, the capital of Indonesia, which has a population of 10m, is sinking into the sea at a rate of 25cm a year. Venice is, comparatively, sinking at a glacial 2mm. Four million people in Jakarta live up to four metres below sea level. A local solution has been costed at $40bn, but catastrophe seems likely. The only issue is when.

Bolivia has just declared a state of emergency because of the worst drought in 25 years. Peru, especially Lima, which also has a population edging towards 10m, faces similar problems. Closer to home, Spitsbergen, in Norway, has been up to 6C warmer this year. The Barents Sea and much of the Kara Sea are still without ice cover. The US National Snow and Ice Data Center has, since 1979, measured ice in the Arctic and Antarctic. This year, the ice-cover off Norway is nearly 4m square kilometres below the record low. In recent days, the US Forest Service has published a survey of California’s forests. It shows that six years of drought have killed 102m trees across 7.7m acres. Last May, India recorded its highest-ever temperature, when Phalodi, in Rajasthan, endured a burning 51C. These conditions are incompatible with human survival.