A few weeks ago, residents of Catalina Island off the coast of southern California were invited to a screening of Al Gore’s global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth. The mayor of Avalon, Catalina’s one and only town, didn’t have high expectations; the island, 20 miles out from the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, is known for its conservative politics and its population of affluent weekend yachting types who don’t believe in crimping their lifestyles for anything as nebulous as the future of the planet. The event, though, was a sell-out – attracting about 400 people, or almost 12 per cent of Avalon’s population – and the crowd stayed at the end for a lively question and answer session. Anyone who has seen Gore’s film can guess why it had such a powerful impact. If global warming causes the oceans to rise, Catalina will be the first place on the US West Coast to feel the effect; mostly probably, it will split into two islands at the point where its two mountain ranges meet. The Pacific would quickly swallow up Avalon’s pretty semi-circular waterfront, with its pedestrian walkways, cafés, ice-cream parlours and surf and diving equipment […]