A forlorn polar bear sitting on a small piece of ice in a wide blue sea is a powerful image for many people. It says: "we are changing the Earth's climate, destroying its wildlife and we ought to do something about it". But it just makes plenty of other people...

The Copenhagen climate summit is in full swing. Thousands of diplomats are busy arguing with one another, surrounded by even bigger crowds of journalists (three hundred from China alone) and still bigger crowds of activists. Copenhagen is so packed that when I called my press friends covering the conference they...