Paradise Lost

The decision to hold the world's most important talks on global warming in the island nation of Bali is ironic because of the vast carbon emissions that will be created by the delegates from 180-odd nations flying to the remote island nation.

But it's perfectly appropriate, given that remote island nations are among the most vulnerable to sea-level rise, which would disperse human populations and likely destroy unique ecology that has evolved in isolation for millions of years.

Yvo de Boer, the general secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, invoked Milton obliquely when he suggested at the outset of the meeting that, as quoted by Deutsche Presse-Agentur, "The outcome of this conference will, to a degree, determine whether Bali - and other vulnerable places - are destined to become a lost paradise or not."

There has been a chorus of appeals for moral clarity on the issue of global warming, which is expected to ravage those least capable of protecting themselves. A little literary allusion to the 340-year-old literary masterpiece just strikes another chord. The implication: Be good, or there will be hell to pay.

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