The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change

In an evaluation of climate action from 1979 to 1989, this special New York Times feature asks: “We understood what failure would mean for global temperatures, coastlines, agricultural yield, immigration patterns, the world economy. But we have not allowed ourselves to comprehend what failure might mean for us. How will it change the way we see ourselves, how we remember the past, how we imagine the future? Why did we do this to ourselves?”

This is a most fascinating read about how long politicians have known about the dangers of our ‘suicide pact with fossil fuels”. It is also a must-read for political leaders and the electorate.

Like most human questions, the carbon-dioxide question will come down to fear—or solutions?

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The front page of the New York Times, June 24, 1988

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