BMJ blogs

Monterey, California

Down on Fisherman’s Wharf, it’s ‘Prime time for the Gray Whale,’ according to the boat trip operators. Just offshore, colonies of sea lions are barking out their territorial claims. If such sensitive indicators of the planet’s health are hail and hearty, what could possibly be wrong?

Loads, actually. The first afternoon of TED’s meeting on ‘The future we will create’ was mostly doom and gloom. If we extrapolate the present we have created into the future then the future won’t be habitable. A surging population has much to do with this - 6.5 billion now, rising to 8 billion by 2020 - with its attendant demands for food, water, and energy. As does climate - especially climate. Al Gore (who, in his own words, “used to be the next President of the United States”) gave a barnstorming performance on our need to cut carbon emissions within the next 10 years. After two years on the road, his slide show has been honed to perfection and kept constantly updated. The latest depressing statistic: 2005 was the hottest year on record, continuing a now familiar pattern. (more…)

This is my visit to Prague and the first quality form I’ve attended since the first prototype in London, well over 10 years ago. It’s much bigger ‘ over 1000 delegates from 49 countries - and much more professionally run. (more…)