Former Czech president counters Vaclav Klaus' stance on climate change

Two days after Czech President Vaclav Klaus gave a speech challenging the human impact on climate change at a conference on global warming in New York, his predecessor Vaclav Havel has written an editorial in the International Herald Tribune arguing the impact of global warming must not be ignored. He writes that it is the human race and not the planet which is at risk and says that scientific studies have shown that "changes in temperature and energy cycles on a planetary scale" could prove dangerous "for people on all continents". Mr Havel and Mr Klaus were well-known for differing political views in the past; Vaclav Klaus succeeded Mr Havel as Czech president in February 2003.