We thought we knew 20 years ago. That led to some alarmist books โ mine included โ because it looked clear-cut, but it hasnโt happened. The climate is doing its usual tricks. Thereโs nothing much really happening yet. We were supposed to be halfway toward a frying world now. The world has not warmed up very much since the millennium. Twelve years is a reasonable time. The temperature has stayed almost constant, whereas it should have been rising - carbon dioxide is rising, no question about that.
James LovelockJust after World War II, this country led the world in science by every way you could measure it, yet the number of scientists was a tiny proportion of what it is now.
James LovelockNowadays if you're dependent on a grant - and 99% of them are - you can't make mistakes as you won't get another one if you do.
James LovelockOur future is like that of the passengers on a small pleasure boat sailing quietly above the Niagara Falls, not knowing that the engines are about to fail.
James LovelockBy 2040, the Sahara will be moving into Europe and Berlin will be as hot as Baghdad. Atlanta will end up a kudzu jungle. Phoenix will become uninhabitable, as will parts of Beijing (desert), Miami (rising seas) and London (floods). Food shortages will drive millions of people north, raising political tensions.
James Lovelock