One of the forecasts is that the interior of continents will dry out. There are huge areas in the interior of continents from which people are going to be displaced because of this desertification.

Basically all these three messages are new, within the last five years. The evidence for each of these has gone from tentative to unambiguous. This was the message we took to the delegates, and at the end of the day all 100 [nations] approved this report.

THC: Do you think there's any room for more laws that mandate changes to current emissions practices?

McCarthy: I'm a bit cynical about any of us, individuals, industries, nations, doing the right thing here if it's all voluntary and particularly since in this area, we don't have the market pressure because of the inexpensive nature of fuel. Sometimes it takes the guiding hand of government to say, 'You may not think you can do it, but we can make you try awfully hard.'

THC: Do you think people in developed nations, in developing nations and in the small nations that night be submerged if the icecaps melt more will be able to come to a consensus or an agreement on combatting climate change in the near future?