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We are in a fool's climate, accidentally kept cool by smoke, and before this century is over billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable.
James Lovelock
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote warns about the severe consequences of climate change, suggesting that only a few will survive in the future.

James Lovelock's quote highlights the catastrophic impact of climate change, indicating that the current state of the environment is unsustainable. It expresses a grim prediction for the future, where a majority of the population may not survive due to deteriorating living conditions, and only a small number of people might endure in areas like the Arctic, which could remain livable amidst drastic changes.

Themes

ClimateChangeSurvivalEnvironmentFuture

In practice

Example use cases

This quote is perfect for a climate change awareness campaign.

More from James Lovelock

I'm a scientist, not a theologian. I don't know if there is a God or not. Religion requires certainty. Revere and respect Gaia. Have trust in Gaia. But not faith.
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Our future is like that of the passengers on a small pleasure boat sailing quietly above the Niagara Falls, not knowing that the engines are about to fail.
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What I tend to do is to wake about five in the morning-this happens quite often-think about the invention, and then image it in my mind in 3D, as a kind of construct. Then I do experiments with the image...sort of rotate it, and say, 'Well what'll happen if one does this?' And by the time I get up for breakfast I can usually go to the bench and make a string and sealing wax model that works straight off, because I've done most of the experiments already.
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By 2040, the Sahara will be moving into Europe and Berlin will be as hot as Baghdad. Atlanta will end up a kudzu jungle. Phoenix will become uninhabitable, as will parts of Beijing (desert), Miami (rising seas) and London (floods). Food shortages will drive millions of people north, raising political tensions.
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Nature favors those organisms which leave the environment in better shape for their progeny to survive.
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