Today temperatures are 1.5C warmer than they were in preindustrial times and sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate. In the late 70s, most climatic fears were focused in the media on the arrival of a new ice age. These include our growing mastery of DNA science, the creation of mobile phones and computers, our improving ability to tackle the scourge of cancer, and the discovery that Homo sapiens have an African origin. View image in fullscreen Mobile phones are among the amazing developments that have occurred in the past 40 years. Our understanding of the disease gradually changed after its appearance in late 2019, and advice was altered as scientists learned more about its causes.