Lester Brown: Plowing the way in environmental research.

In this interview, pioneering environmental analyst Lester Brown warns about the growing mismatch between modern agriculture and a changing climate system, including the risk of widespread water shortages and a food crisis in poor countries. He talks about the changes required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including his assessment that emissions must be reduced 80 percent by 2020. He makes the case for climate change as a national security issue, and predicts that society is reaching a cultural tipping point beyond which climate action will be more widely accepted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]