This fragile earth of about 6.5 billion souls faces grave and unprecedented challenges: soaring prices of oil and basic commodities that fuel daily life; price increases that make staple foods like rice and wheat too expensive for millions of poor people; a savage profusion of natural and man-made disasters killing hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people from China to Myanmar, North Korea and Zimbabwe; the threat of stagflation that will cost millions of jobs and hopes and dreams.

That's the immediate daily toll. Above and beyond are serious short- and medium-term threats, including Islamic terrorism that seeks mass murder and economic mayhem in the name of a supposedly merciful God, and a global economic structure that lets a billion people go to bed hungry every night.

Now, conveniently on the eve of the annual global summit of world leaders, comes fresh proof of the threat to mankind's very existence with evidence that the world is suffocating itself to death by dependence on fossil fuels. The Group of Eight leaders will meet in the cool of Hokkaido with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in the chair, offering Japan the opportunity to show leadership for which the world now and in generations to come would be truly thankful.