One of the world’s largest conferences ever on global warming opens today in Montreal but the world’s worst polluter–the United States–has decided not to take part. Some 10,000 delegates from around the world are scheduled to attend the UN-sponsored conference to decide the future of the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty signed by 156 nations to curb greenhouse gases. The Bush administration has opposed the Kyoto Protocol and said individual nations should be able to pursue their own ways to curb emissions. The conference opens just a week after scientists revealed the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is now higher than at any time in the past 650,000 years. Scientists are also warning about the impact of the melting icecaps. “Because as the Arctic ice melts, glaciers and the ice pack of Greenland, it will cause sea level to rise. We expect upwards of a metre of sea level rise to occur during this coming 100 years,” said Bob Correll, of the American Meteorological Society. “Where you and I are standing, the beach would be here just from sea level rise or maybe even on the berm behind us. These processes have profound implications on the entire planet. It is not just the loss of polar bear or Inuits losing their lifestyle but it is profoundly important to the planet at large.”