I once saw an excellently entertaining episode of the Scottish sit-com Still Game, one which during our current weather is quite topical. In it, the old-age pensioners of inner-city Glasgow are placing bets on the "death derby" as to who among them will be next to die of pneumonia in the cold-snap during the notorious Scottish winter. Rather tasteless, you might imagine, but when all were involved it was, to the competitors, quite a compelling bet when offered evens on the man with the steel hip.

I read something recently, however, and didn't take it quite so lightly. During this day and age, when most of western Europe is still in recession and the Copenhagen summit looks totally unlikely to decide on any proper action to save the future of humanity, I can understand the need for a light-hearted look at the plight of endangered species. But when Paddy Power offered 13/8 on the population of the Polar Bears dropping from around 25,000 to 15,000 by this time in 2011, telling us that "we are yet to take a single bet on the population increasing", it seemed like boys in a school yard placing bets on anything from who can spit the furthest to who can make the worst smells.

Is this a desperate search for something new to offer a public with a declining surplus income to use on Paddy Power, or a post-modern attempt to highlight the plight of a helpless species? I'll let you decide...