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Climate change is the central environmental ill of our time. We have an obligation to protect our children from the dangers of this widening scourge, and we aren't yet doing enough about it.

Despite widely differing perspectives and agendas, there seems to be a remarkable global consensus that has built up over a fairly short period of time that climate change and ecology is one of the truly defining issues for humanity.

I believe we should reframe our response to climate change as an imperative for growth rather than merely being a way of being green or meeting environmental commitments.

It should simply be an empirical matter whether the climate is changing or not and whether we're responsible. But the various sides of the debate have now become so tribal that it's no longer a matter of changing our views as more information comes in.

Climate change - for so long an abstract concern for an academic few - is no longer so abstract. Even the Bush administration's Climate Change Science Programme reports 'clear evidence of human influences on the climate system.'

We owe it to our children to be better stewards of the environment. The alternative? - a world without whales. It's too terrible to imagine.

I hope my kids can experience the seasons and a climate that's sustainable. The idea that things are going to be so very different for them is slightly scary.

You know, I get frustrated with our country's administration, which is really the people who are not acknowledging global warming. I mean, it's accepted by scientists around the world, scientists in our country and it's accepted by every country around the world with the exception of the United States.

I have long understood that climate change is not only an environmental issue - it is a humanitarian, economic, health, and justice issue as well.

I'm not an extreme tree-hugger. I do believe trees grow and are a useful agricultural product that can be harvested without damaging the ecology and wildlife.