Entrepreneur Bill Gates called the effects of air pollution as devastating as the coronavirus pandemic. In his blog, the billionaire and philanthropist predicted a climate catastrophe in the coming decades.
The founder of Microsoft believes that a global environmental crisis will shake the planet in a few decades. Gates believes that humanity should expect an increase in mortality and economic hardship: "As dire as the pandemic is, climate change could be even worse." To prevent a catastrophe, the businessman proposes to radically reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
Explaining the danger of a new crisis, Gates said that if the environment deteriorates, human death and economic problems will haunt humanity longer than the COVID-19 pandemic. According to him, over 40 years, mortality from rising temperatures on the planet will be compared with mortality from coronavirus - about 14 deaths per 100 thousand people. Gates believes that in the event of climate change for the worse by the end of the century, mortality from climatic factors will increase to 73 deaths per 100 thousand people. "By 2100, the effects of climate change could be five times more deadly than the coronavirus," the author noted.
According to the entrepreneur, humanity must learn the lessons of COVID-19 and be ready to confront global climate change. Gates suggested several steps to avoid disaster. In particular, Bill Gates believes that it is necessary to control emissions through science and innovation. He is also convinced that solutions against environmental disasters should work in developing countries.
“It will take decades to create and implement all the necessary developments in the field of clean energy,” - said the billionaire, noting the limited amount of time that humanity has left to solve the problem. Unlike the coronavirus vaccine "we will have next year," Gates said there is no two-year solution to climate change.