Over the last few weeks, a lot has been said about Bill Gates' apparent prediction of the COVID-19 pandemic. While giving a TED talk in 2015, Gates had spoken about the possibility of a highly infectious virus spreading havoc in the near future. Now, talking about threats the world faces in 2021 and beyond, Gates opines that this will not be the end. Other pandemics will come, and climate change will be an increasingly bigger concern for the world in the coming years.
Gates contends that one needs to look beyond the obvious solutions such as usage of greener energy to combat climate change. Underscoring his point, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist recently released a book on how one can work to avoid a 'climate disaster'.
"To avoid a climate disaster, we need to eliminate emissions from the ways we create electricity, grow food, make things, move around, and heat and cool our buildings. It won’t be easy, but I believe we can do it. This book is about what it will take," he had tweeted sharing the blurb recently.
But while some think travelling to new planets is the way forward, the Microsoft co-founder is more keen on improving Earth. In an interview Gates opined that unlike Elon Musk, he was not particularly a "Mars person", even as he acknowledged the Tesla chief's contributions.
"It’s important to say that what Elon did with Tesla is one of the greatest contributions to climate change anyone’s ever made. And you know, underestimating Elon is not a good idea. No, I’m not a Mars person. I know a lot of Mars people. But, you know, I’m not subject to that," he was quoted as saying.
And while Gates readily admits that he could be "missing something", he also believes that rockets are not "the solution".
