Lovelock: "Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change." [View All]

[skeptical cynic]

Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change from radically impacting on our lives over the coming decades. This is the stark conclusion of James Lovelock, the globally respected environmental thinker and independent scientist who developed the Gaia theory.

It follows a tumultuous few months in which public opinion on efforts to tackle climate change has been undermined by events such as the climate scientists' emails leaked from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit.

"I don't think we're yet evolved to the point where we're clever enough to handle a complex a situation as climate change," said Lovelock in his first in-depth interview since the theft of the UEA emails last November. "The inertia of humans is so huge that you can't really do anything meaningful."

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/mar/29/james-lovelock-climate-change

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I don't know if we're too stupid, but we certainly seem to be short-sighted and lacking collective will to overcome avarice and nationalism.

Western culture is a bit like the Titanic: Lots of inertia, undersized rudder, and leadership without the best interests of the passengers in mind.