Episode 1, Southern California Polar Bear.

Hi, before we get underway, remember this old joke?

Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.

It was a great line. Mark Twain got the credit, although we probably never said it.

But it was pretty funny, up until now.

I'm Warren Alney. I've been a reporter in Los Angeles for a long time.

20 years on TV news, 25 more on public radio,

long enough to realize that my generation has mostly tinkered around

with what's turned out to be the most important

development in the world. We knew about what we called global warming for decades, but we ignored

it, or we at best played it down, despite all those warnings about a force that's changing,

well, not just the weather, but everything. Ultimately,

the way we go about living our daily lives. In the news media, we did report that human activity

was heating up everything worldwide, but you know, we balanced those warnings with comforting denials.

All too often from special interests.

And we did that for much too long.

Climate change is not just disconcerting.

It is scary.

It is stand on the rooftop and shout scary. It can be paralyzing. But remember, I'm a member of the denial generation. I got to do better than that.

For my children and their children and generations to come.

It's too late to prevent climate change, but it's not too late to help prevent it from being worse than it needs to be.

Part of the denial process is to look at a threat as something that's down the road that's far, far away,

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