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Losing Earth: How We Almost Solved Climate Change

An air tanker drops retardant while battling a wildfire near Mariposa, Calif., Wednesday, July 19, 2017.
Associated Press
An air tanker drops retardant while battling a wildfire near Mariposa, Calif., Wednesday, July 19, 2017.
Losing Earth: How We Almost Solved Climate Change
Losing Earth: How We Almost Solved Climate Change GUEST: Nathaniel Rich, author, "Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change"

The New York Times Magazine recently published a history of national efforts to avert a climate change disaster. The article recalls the push for education and action in the 1980s, and how close officials came to taking steps that may have slowed the warming of the planet.

What can the reasons those efforts failed tell us about our present chances of stopping a climate catastrophe?

For his story, author Nathaniel Rich spent time doing research at UC San Diego, as two of the central figures in the piece were former directors at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

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Rich discusses what kept the U.S. from taking action, Monday on Midday Edition.