THE world has just ten years to stop global warming from running out of control, according to climate scientists. Carbon levels in the atmosphere were building up so fast, they said, that they would be self-sustaining by about 2026.

Peter Smith, an emeritus professor at Nottingham University, said yesterday that politicians would need to replace fossil fuels with greener energy within ten years. While the tipping point for rampant global warming would take longer to reach, he said, green technology would need at least ten years to bring carbon levels under control.

He said that by investing in green energy, especially tidal energy, Britain could, by the end of the century, meet its power needs without using nuclear or fossil fuel.

Professor Smith said that it would probably take a natural disaster in Britain to get politicians to act. “Tragically, there needs a catastrophic event to motivate politicians to take action. Only then will they feel the public will go with them,” he said, singling out Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, as the biggest block to progress.

Scientists predict that by about 2026 carbon dioxide emissions will reach 440 parts per million in volume, the point at which global warming becomes self-sustaining and rises exponentially. Dr Eric Wolff, of the British Antarctic Survey, said that until 200 years ago carbon dioxide levels varied between 180 and 300 parts per million. They are now more than 380 parts per million.

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