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Arjuna Nagendran

Doctor,

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Is fighting climate change a losing battle?

Climate change is and will impact us all. As alluded to, there are many countries who unfortunately stand to make very substantial financial gains from this.

What is likely to be the most successful way of fighting this battle? Who is likely to make the biggest impact - our fellow citizens or our Governments?

Related Talks:
Topics: climate change global warming international cooperation
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  • andrew jones

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    Oct 6 2012: Yep, it's a losing battle. Climate change was started by the industrial revolution over 150 years ago. There's no way to stop it short of tearing down ALL industrial societies, and/or watching them collapse. Might as well enjoy the ride!

    • richard moody jr 10+

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      Oct 6 2012: You and Walter are absolutely right. Our leaders have the vision of a Cyclops and will tell us what we want to hear. We lack the capacity to face the "big" issues. China is building a smart grid. Where is ours? European taxes cause gasoline to cost up to double American prices, but try to tell our polititicians that we need more expensive gas to curb consumption and you would be laughed out of the room.

      Even after 99% of all scientists are absolutely convinced that climate change is driven by burning of fossil fuels, there will be countries that continue to burn them---including us.

      • andrew jones

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        Oct 7 2012: Scientists say the CO2 levels are already way too high. Even if we stopped burning fuels instantly (fat chance) the climate will continue to heat for the next few centuries. But don't blame the politicians - the time to fix this passed before anyone alive today was born.
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          chen xin

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          Oct 7 2012: i dont think so
          maybe in the future we will research out some other clean fuels then i think it is unnecessary to use the normal fossil fuels .
          ad how do we surive without burning fossil , you say when we use up the ,we must find out the succedaneum as soon as possible .or we may face another big problem .

          we must live a much saving life . then we may have a much longer life .

        • richard moody jr 10+

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          Oct 7 2012: Sounds about right. Methane is even worse than CO2 and we know that the tundra is warming releasing stored CO2 and methane in bogs. In the deepsea there are what are called methane clathrates. As the bottom waters begin to warm they will enter the water column, too.

          Our best hope is that we are going to go into a cooling period as some climate specialists believe for the next 20-40 years before warming resumes. When the next ice age arrrives we might need our coal to spread coal dust on the advancing glaciers to warm them up!
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      natasha nikulina 50+

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      TED Translator
      Oct 6 2012: As somebody aptly said : We are at war with ourselves and we are loosing.
      But we haven't lost yet , i am hopeful :)

      • andrew jones

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        Oct 7 2012: Ah, Natasha. Hope is all we have ;)

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