Sir, - As representatives of the governments of the world meet in Kyoto it is easy to forget that planetary change is just one of a host of global environmental disasters that are symptoms of humanity's dysfunctional relationship with the rest of earth's biosphere.Nearly half the of the earth's rain forests are now gone; over a quarter of the earth's coral reefs are dead or dying; water tables are dropping rapidly around the world; farmland, rivers and coastal waters are saturated with nitrates and phosphates; one in four of Europe's trees is dead or dying due to acid rain; up to 10 per cent of the earth's species of plants and animals have been made extinct; 14 of the world's 17 major fishing grounds are either fished out or seriously depleted.This is happening in a context in which the recent dramatic increase in Irish sales of new cars is widely seen as good news, in which a major function of the media is to promote consumption, and in which the increase in GNP is regarded as a nation's highest collective aspiration. The most common individual and institutional response to the impact of his behaviour on the rest of the biosphere is the well-understood psychological defence mechanism of denial.It requires no great intelligence to extrapolate only a little into the future and realise that this state of affairs will change. How it will change will depend on the decisions that each of us makes, with every action we do, every day that we live. After all, it is possible to live with less. - Yours, etc.,Graham Caswell,Castle Street,Dublin 2.