Summit

Many people are rejoicing at the pending superpower summit and the prospect of eliminating an entire class of nuclear missiles from the European theater. Others are horrified at the prospect of an unprotected Europe facing an imbalance in conventional forces with the dreaded Soviets.

Yet until there is an international summit aimed at halting population growth and reducing environmental threats to this planet, there will be little if any hope for a safe and prosperous future, with or without nuclear weapons. Uncontrolled population growth can quickly outstrip regional resources leading to starvation, long-term debt (to fuel the economy) and political unrest.

Industrial pollution threatens every major ecosystem on the planet, including layers of our atmosphere without which we would die just as surely as in an atomic war.

Not an encouraging picture, but to ignore it is to let it proceed unheeded until it is too late to reverse.

JOHN STUART WALKER

Laguna Beach