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| Bill Gates: Compared to the climate the coronavirus is easier to solve |
Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft, said: Solving climate change is one of the most surprising things in human history. On the other hand, he said, it is very easy to end the coronavirus outbreak.
Gates' new book "How to Avoid Climate Disasters" is a guide to dealing with global warming. He said: Do not underestimate the challenge because we have not made the transition in the next 30 years as we say now, and there is no precedent.
The world adds 51 billion tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere every year.
We need to go to zero, which means reducing emissions to a certain level in order to offset the remaining greenhouse gas emissions by absorbing the same amount of carbon from the atmosphere.
One way to achieve this goal is to grow trees that absorb carbon dioxide through their leaves. Gates focuses on how technology can help us complete the journey.
Renewable resources like wind and sun can help us remove carbon from electricity, but as Gates pointed out, that's less than 30% of total emissions.
We also need to remove carbon from the remaining 70% of the global economy, including steel, cement, transportation systems, fertilizer production, etc.
In many of these areas we currently have no way of doing this. According to Gates, it will be a groundbreaking work on a scale never before seen in the world. He thinks that should start with the government.
The current economic system does not set the true price for the use of fossil fuels, and most users do not pay for the environmental damage caused by pollution of gasoline, coal, or natural gas.
Gates believes this will require significant government investment in research and development as well as support to allow the market for new products and technologies to grow, thereby lowering prices.
On the climate issue, he stressed that disasters cannot be avoided without the support of governments around the world, especially for those who live near the equator.
It should be noted that (Bill Gates) helped found Microsoft in 1975. He became the fourth richest man in the world, with a net worth of 124 billion dollars, and donated about 50 billion dollars to his wife through a charity founded by Melinda (1994).
Gates left Microsoft in 2008 and focused on philanthropy. He currently focuses on global health, development, education and climate change.