Green campaigners and climate scientists are losing the public debate over global warming, one of the movement's leading proponents has admitted. Dr James Hansen, director of the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who first made warnings about climate change in the 1980s, said that public scepticism about the threat of man-made climate change has increased despite the growing scientific consensus. Speaking ahead of a public lecture in Edinburgh this week, he admitted that without public support it will be impossible to make the changes he and his colleagues believe need to occur to protect future generations from the effects of climate change. His comments come as recent surveys have revealed that public support for tackling climate change has declined dramatically in recent years. --Richard Gray, The Daily Telegraph, 9 April 2012
