How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
by Bill Gates
Related videos
15:26
Gates answers reader climate change questions via video calls
1.5M
4K
Apr, 2021
Spoiler:
Saying that “the clarity of zero is very, very important,” (that is, getting from 51 billion tons of emissions yearly down to zero), Gates uses the analogy of a bathtub slowly filling up. Even if we slow the flow of water into the tub to a trickle, it will eventually overflow. Encouraging philanthropy, he notes that he has spent around two billion dollars so far on this issue. Responding to a reader question, he says that one area that is “greatly underfunded” is adapting seeds for farmers near the equator.
2:00
Gates expresses hope for climate innovation in Gates Notes format
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Feb, 2021
Spoiler:
Opening with footage of wildfires, hurricanes, and climate-slaying industry, Gates says that he has great hope for humanity in part based on his experience. Back when computers were so big and expensive that only governments and the largest companies could afford them, a young Gates dreamed of putting a computer on every desk. Now we not only have one on every desk but in just about every pocket, so Gates doesn’t see why we can’t innovate at the same level regarding climate change.
48:26
Bill Gates converses with TED global curator Bruno Guissani
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Mar, 2021
Spoiler:
In this in-depth conversation covering all aspects of climate change, Gates emphasizes that simply lowering emissions or cutting them even by 50% is not meaningful, but that we must get to zero. He says we have seen incredible price reductions in solar, wind, and lithium-ion batteries (but not in hydrogen fuel cells), rendering those alternatives sensible areas of focus to make sure that emissions reduction is not just a Western story but is also an African and an Indian story.
7:36
Summary of the book’s key points in Four Minute Books format
5K
103
Jan, 2022
Spoiler:
The video describes Gates’s five areas of focus that we must conquer in order to overcome climate change: making plastic and steel; plugging in, or electricity; growing things such as our food; transportation; and warming and cooling our indoor spaces. Gates says that nuclear power has had its name unfairly tarnished by disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima, but that it is still less deadly than fossil fuels. He likes the idea of using wind and solar and supplementing any deficiencies with nuclear power.
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