In the TED talk Global Priorities Bigger than Climate Change, Bjorn Lomborg addresses the idea that although climate change is an issue, he questions its importance on the scale of world issues. Lomboeg’s main point is to question the prioritization of the efforts to reduce global warming and to compare these efforts to other just as important world issues and why we have prioritized climate change. “Surely the biggest problem we have in the world is that we all die. But we don't have a technology to solve that, right? So the point is not to prioritize problems, but the point is to prioritize solutions to problems” (Lomborg, 2005). 

At first, I found Lomborg’s argument to be very convincing. He had intellectual thought that almost made me question my own authority to even think that climate change is comparable to other world issues, but by the end of his talk, I just couldn't agree with his main idea, which was to lower global warming on the priority list. I do however appreciate his ability to ask the hard and grueling questions that most don't. We live in a capitalist world with rising numbers in population, so it would be extremely foolish not to look at people as numbers, which is something Lomborg addresses. I think that he asks extremely important questions and also makes a point that with an issue as big as climate change, we either need to be all in, or not at all, which is a concept I am sure many disagree with but in actuality it makes sense. Doing something halfway is almost like not doing it at all. But he loses me at the idea using this evidence to prioritize funds and efforts to other issues merely due to the fact that Climate Change is a difficult and costly task. This mentality is what has halted our efforts to address environmental issues properly for so long, so it doesn't make sense to stop now just because the future looks a little rocky. 

Upon further research I also found an abundant amount of article and peer reviews debunking a lot of the scientific evidence that Lomborg mentioned not only in his Ted Talk but in his other writings as well. The University of Melbourne stated “For the US, Lomborg assumes in the optimistic scenario that after 2030, the US continues to emit at the same rate as in 2030. This ignores that the US has flagged an emissions reduction target by 2050 of 80%”. (Fact4Fact, n/a). So although Lomborg is using all the right tools to provide evidence, it's clear that inputting any chosen information could bring about manipulated results for one's cause. It is also important to realize that lomborg's TED talk was released back in 2005 which was 15 years ago. According to Climate.gov, “The 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998, and 9 of the 10 have occurred since 2005” (Lindsey, 2020). I think Lomborg's highly critiqued questions were somewhat valid (to a certain extent) at the time, but issues have extended and evolved. As time goes on, highly advanced models are able to project new information given the stats that have been produced over the years. 

I definitely would place global warming on a high priority list. Of course, this is not to say that other issues are of less importance, but I believe that the world has placed this issue on the back burner for long enough. The interesting aspect that ties with this question is that global warming itself isn't just one single issue. The effects are wide ranging and have evolved to an increase in natural disasters, higher risk of illness, introduction of new diseases, etc. I understand that economic analysis and input is essential to improvement but if a planet with 7.8 billion people on it can't figure out how to multitask saving the planet and living on it at the same time, maybe we should reconsider our system as a whole. 

Citations:

“Home.” Climate and Energy College, http://climatecollege.unimelb.edu.au/facts4paris-lomborg-wrong-again (Links to an external site.)

Lomborg, Bjorn. “Global Priorities Bigger than Climate Change.” TED, 2005 www.ted.com/talks/bjorn_lomborg_global_priorities_bigger_than_climate_change?language=en (Links to an external site.).

“Climate Change: Global Temperature: NOAA Climate.gov.” Climate Change: Global Temperature | NOAA Climate.gov, 16 Jan. 2020, www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature (Links to an external site.).