Not Funny

A gag about global warming got an icy reception Monday at a U.N. environment conference, where Arctic nations warned the frozen north faces disaster from climate change. Russian President Vladimir Putin cracked, "In Russia ... it would not be scary for it to be two or three degrees warmer. Maybe ... we could spend less on fur coats and other warm things." Delegates, who earlier heard Putin snub U.N. pleas for Russia to set a date to ratify the Kyoto protocol, a pact to cut emissions of greenhouse gases across the world, did not see the funny side. "Climate change is the biggest and most serious environmental threat we face," said the Norwegian environment minister, and that's no joke.