The World is Not Ending | Bjørn Lomborg | EP 315

Most people on the planet wake up each day thinking that things are getting worse. It is little wonder, given what they routinely read in the newspaper or see on television. But this gloomy mood is a problem because it feeds into scare stories about how climate change will end in Armageddon. The fact is that the world is mostly getting better.

By Bjorn Lomborg Wednesday, November 17, 2010 One of the scarier predictions about global warming is the suggestion that melting glaciers and ice caps could cause sea levels to rise as much as 15 to 20 feet over the next century. Set aside the fact that the best research we have - from the United Nations climate panel - says that global sea levels are not likely to rise more than about 20 inches by 2100. Rather, let's imagine that over the next 80 or 90 years, a giant port city - say, Tokyo - found itself engulfed by a sea-level rise of about 15 feet. (...) 

During a recent visit with the Dallas Morning News' editorial board, Bjorn Lomborg urged policymakers to spend money on countering climate change more effectively. Rather than spending on feel-good green projects or urging people to make personal sacrifices such as giving up meat, leaders should approach climate solutions unemotionally and invest in the ideas that will do the most good for the most people.