THERE is strong evidence that "global warming" is not something dreamt up by scientists, but a slow and insidious shifting of factors affecting weather patterns all over the world.

The vast majority sit back resigned with the attitude of what can we, the man in the street, do about it?

Probably not a lot, but we can protest about things which will make matters worse, and this is the point I wish to make.

We may look at the protestors around Heathrow Airport with disdain, but they are "doing something".

Remember the student protests in the US which contributed greatly to the ending of the Vietnam War, and the massive civil uprisings in Eastern Europe which brought about the end of communism as a practical form of government, however noble the concept may have been?

Apart from a few marches in 2003 over the Iraq war, we have tolerated actions by our government which have brought shame to our nation and still we do nothing.

Apart from a largely silent few, the youth of our country has lost its soul.

Pro-active idealism has virtually disappeared or has become the property of anarchists at G8 summits of the West's richest nations.

Hugh Pender, Darlington.