WELL, now it is official. Global warming is accelerating at such a rate of knots that it can only be a matter of time before the ice caps melt, sea levels rise to the height of Blackpool Tower and Homo sapiens is swept into oblivion, literally and metaphorically.That startling revelation comes from Professor James Lovelock, scientist, environmentalist and the Green movement's most influential voice.

Professor Lovelock advocates the use of nuclear power as the only viable alternative to coal, gas and oil-fired power stations, currently pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which has caused global warming.

However, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth are diametrically opposed to nuclear power as radioactive waste poses a huge problem in that no-one seems to know how to deal with it effectively and with complete safety. It remains deadly for thousands of years and needs special storage.

So we face a real problem here; what cynics call a 'no win' situation. If we don't do something very quickly to reduce global warming, we drown within the next 50 years. If we take the nuclear power route, advocated by one of the world's leading environmentalists, we risk filling Planet Earth with deadly radioactive dumps and possible 'Chernobyls'. It makes the goings on in Corrie and Emmerdale seem trite.

The trouble is, to some folk the fictional events played out by Fred Elliott and his Thai 'import', and the 'love triangle' involving brothers Robert and Andy and Katie, are more important than greenhouse gases and global warming. They'll probably still be glued to the telly when the sea water comes crashing down their street.

But we can't simply blame public indifference. The world's industrialised nations gobble up huge amounts of its energy sources.

America in particular has consistently defied attempts to significantly reduce the emissions which cause climate changes and now China and India's expanding industries are exacerbating the problems. Advocating a reduction in the use of fossilised fuels or switching to alternative energy sources is likely to generate a similar lack of enthusiasm to that in the West, where warnings of calamitous changes to global weather have been voiced by environmentalists for 25 years. However, a new Hollywood blockbuster, The Day After Tomorrow, which features chilling special effects illustrating the consequences of global warming, may very well bring about a dramatic change in attitudes.

Images of civilisation being swamped by tidal waves has created widespread unease in the USA. Nothing like a good movie to draw attention to real life I always say.

What will George W Bush and Tony Blair make of The Day After Tomorrow? No point being masters of the Earth if its going to be a huge duck pond in a few years. I bet they're busy emulating Noah, building a communal ark as we speak. I wonder who will get to name it? Anthony's Ark has more of a ring about it than George Dubya's Ark, don't you think?