The central reality of climate change – that gases from the burning of fossil fuels are creating a “greenhouse effect,” warming the planet – has been known for decades. It's been 40 years since the first World Climate Conference. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was formed in 1988, the same year NASA scientist James Hansen told Congress “the greenhouse effect is already happening now.”

Though the world hasn't changed course – on the contrary, annual global CO2 emissions have nearly doubled since 1979 – the fact of climate change now seems to have penetrated public consciousness. It remains politically charged in the U.S., but major institutions – from the ... Hosted by for KRTS