What's more, it turns out that today's baby-boomer leaders, such as former Vice President Al Gore, know exactly what Earth's temperature should be. Think about it: Unlike anybody before them, the baby boomers know the correct temperature of the planet! Incredible. Interesting again, the correct temperature corresponds exactly with the temperatures the baby boomers were born into.

It really is all about them.

So much insight for one generation. Not only that, but the boomers have figured out that it's mankind's actions that are primarily responsible for any temperature variations we experience today. It seems the baby-boomer generation is the one that can profoundly impact, for better or worse, the physical well-being of the planet in a way no other generation has ever been able to do.

Of course, that means the baby boomers have the moral right to demand that all human beings everywhere fundamentally change their lives, economies and standard of living _ except for all the boomers who like their big cars and houses _ because Earth depends on them.

That sure is a lot of responsibility to shoulder.

The authors of "The Year 1000" note that what C.S. Lewis calls the "'snobbery of chronology' encourages us to presume that just because we happen to have lived after our ancestors ... we must also know better" than they. "But," the writers continue, "whether today we display more wisdom or common humanity is an open question."

Actually, I'd say that when it comes to today's baby boomers, as a generation _ that question is answered.