THE storms lashing Britain are, like the BSE disaster, the result of mankind's
"arrogant disregard" for the delicate balance of nature, the Prince of Wales
said yesterday.
He told a conference on medicine: "We have to find a way of ensuring that
our remarkable and seemingly beneficial advances in technology do not just
become the agents of our own destruction."
The Prince's remarks came a week before 160 nations begin talks in the
Hague on strengthening the Kyoto climate change treaty, and as torrential rain
brought renewed misery to thousands of homeowners and commuters. Barely
a region was spared as the Environment Agency issued 41 severe flood
warnings on 27 rivers. Many rivers are not expected to peak until late tonight
or tomorrow. The Met Office forecast that up to 1.5 inches of rain will fall in
some parts today.
The Prince's comments show him firmly on the side of scientists who point to
the worsening intensity of winter downpours as evidence that man-made
global warming has already begun, and tacitly out of sympathy with the fuel
tax protesters. Scientists who point to measurable changes in the climate over
the last century as visible signs of global warming avoid attributing any
particular storm or weather event to global warming because the climate will
always be variable.
But the Prince chose to make no such qualification. He told the Millennium
Festival of Medicine in London, which was organised by the British Medical
Association: "As it did in the 19th century, medicine will once again have to
consider the impact of pestilence and famine on human health. A new danger
is the transfer of infective organisms between the animal kingdom and man,
and the terrifying potential of environmental changes with their serious effects
on health.
"Some recent occurrences such as the BSE disaster and even perhaps - dare
I mention it - the present severe weather conditions in our country are, I have
no doubt, the consequences of mankind's arrogant disregard of the delicate
balance of nature. There is no doubt that we live in an age of unprecedented,
and sometimes terrifying, technological advance where the speed of advance
so often outstrips the necessary ethical considerations."
The Prince said that the human genome project "fascinates and alarms in equal
combinations". The development of a genetic map of the human body
promised new techniques in identifying and treating diseases with a genetic
component and potentially tailoring drugs to the individual, but the project also
raised "important issues of bioethics".
Just as important as scientific and technical advances was the healing
relationship between doctors and other health professionals and their patients,
he told the meeting. Prince Charles also called for a growing recognition of the
"potentially powerful" role of complementary therapies.
A spokesman for the Met Office said last night: "We agree with the Prince's
sentiments. While there is dispute as to the proportion of global warming
brought about by human influence and natural variability we, among many
other scientists, agree that a significant part is down to human influence."
~*~
Queen Mother 'chirpy' after breaking her
collar-bone(Electronic Telegraph)
By Sally Pook
QUEEN ELIZABETH the Queen Mother was recovering at home yesterday
after breaking her collar bone in a fall at Clarence House.
The accident happened late on Friday afternoon
when she tripped on the edge of a carpet as she
entered her sitting room. She was alone but was
found by a member of staff less than a minute later,
a spokesman said. Last night, she was said to be in
some pain but was described by Sir Alastair Aird,
her private secretary, as "very chirpy".
The Queen Mother, who celebrated her 100th
birthday in August, was treated by doctors at
Clarence House and although she has been
ordered to rest, she has been able to get out of bed
and sit with her left arm and shoulder in a sling.
The fracture was to the left collar bone and she will need to rest to let it heal.
She has cancelled all immediate engagements. A spokesman said: "Her
Majesty is reasonably comfortable. The injury hurts but it is not agonising."
The accident completed an unhappy week for the Queen Mother, who
tripped last Tuesday evening after attending a dinner in central London. The
Queen Mother, who has undergone two hip replacement operations, walks
with some difficulty and usually requires two sticks. She also suffers from
failing eyesight and her staff take care to keep objects out of her way.
Experts said yesterday the Queen Mother should make a good recovery
although she may have problems regaining her confidence. However, the
injury is considered serious at her age. She has stumbled before, hurting her
shin at Royal Ascot in 1981. In August 1994, she sustained a leg injury,
thought to be a cut, which later ulcerated.
The Prince of Wales, who returned to London yesterday from Highgrove, his
Gloucestershire home, was expected to see his grandmother last night. Earlier,
arriving for an official engagement in London, he said: "She is in remarkably
good form."
The Queen, who spent the weekend at Windsor, was keeping in touch with
her mother by telephone and would visit her as soon as she could,
Buckingham Palace said last night.
The Queen Mother had cancelled a visit on Thursday to the Field of
Remembrance at St Margaret's Churchyard, Westminster. She will also be
absent from the Remembrance Service at the Cenotaph on Sunday.