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Billionaire Bill Gates — long one of the loudest voices warning of climate catastrophe — now says the world has bigger problems to worry about. In a 17-page memo released Tuesday, the Microsoft co-founder called for a “strategic pivot” away from the obsessive focus on reducing global temperatures, urging leaders instead to prioritize fighting poverty and eradicating disease in the developing world. “Climate change is a serious problem, but it’s not the end of humanity,” Gates wrote.

Gates, 70, argued that global leaders have lost perspective by treating climate change as an existential crisis while millions continue to suffer from preventable diseases like malaria. “If I had to choose between eradicating malaria and preventing a tenth of a degree of warming, I’d let the temperature go up 0.1 degree,” he told reporters ahead of next month’s U.N. climate conference in Brazil. “People don’t understand the suffering that exists today.”

For decades, Gates has positioned himself as a leading advocate for global climate initiatives, investing billions in green energy projects and warning of the dangers of rising emissions. Yet his latest comments mark a striking reversal — and a rare admission that the world’s climate panic may have gone too far. “If you think climate is not important, you won’t agree with the memo,” Gates told journalists. “If you think climate is the only cause and apocalyptic, you won’t agree with the memo. It’s a pragmatic view from someone trying to maximize the money and innovation that helps poor countries.”

The billionaire’s change in tone is sure to raise eyebrows ahead of the U.N. conference, where climate activists plan to push for new emissions targets and wealth transfers from developed nations. Critics have long accused Gates and other elites of hypocrisy for lecturing the public about fossil fuels while traveling the globe on private jets. Now, Gates himself appears to be distancing from the doomsday rhetoric he once helped spread, effectively admitting that humanity faces more immediate moral imperatives than the weather.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Stunning Climate Change pivot from Bill Gates. Poverty and disease should be top concern.

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Hurricane Melissa slammed into Jamaica on Tuesday morning as a ferocious Category 5 storm, becoming the most powerful system ever to strike the island in 174 years of recordkeeping. The eye of the hurricane made landfall near St. Elizabeth Parish on the southern coast, bringing catastrophic winds, torrential rain, and life-threatening storm surges before beginning its projected path across the island toward St. Ann Parish in the north.

The storm had already proven deadly across the Caribbean, blamed for at least seven deaths—three in Jamaica, three in Haiti, and one in the Dominican Republic—while another person remains missing. Even before landfall, landslides, uprooted trees, and widespread blackouts had been reported, with emergency officials warning that the full scope of destruction may take days to assess.

Witness the raw power of nature as a U.S. Air Force pilot navigates through the eye wall of Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm with 185 mph winds sweeping across Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. The accompanying image captures the storm's mesmerizing eye, where life… pic.twitter.com/JtKMOyJ4ku

— SanaviNet (@Sanavi1009) October 28, 2025

According to the Associated Press, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the government had done all it could to prepare but admitted the storm’s intensity would test Jamaica’s limits. “There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5,” Holness said. “The question now is the speed of recovery. That’s the challenge.”

Forecasters warned of storm surges up to 13 feet along Jamaica’s southern coast, threatening homes, hospitals, and infrastructure. Health Minister Christopher Tufton said some patients were moved to upper floors as a precaution. “We hope that will suffice for any surge that will take place,” Tufton told reporters.

🚨 BREAKING: HOSPITALS DESTROYED IN JAMAICA 🚨

Medical facilities in Black River, Jamaica have reportedly been destroyed, according to a Jamaican Senator speaking to NBC.
Amid Hurricane Melissa’s catastrophic landfall, emergency services are overwhelmed, and access to care is… pic.twitter.com/FwJsmfMvqr

— Dj Steven King (@djstevenking1) October 28, 2025

Matthew Samuda, Jamaica’s Minister of Water, Environment, and Climate Change, called the situation “frightening,” noting that roughly 70 percent of the country’s population lives within three miles of the sea. Low-lying communities such as Kingston, Old Harbour Bay, Rocky Point, and St. Elizabeth were expected to bear the brunt of the flooding.

“We hope we have done enough in terms of preparation,” Samuda said in an interview with the BBC, urging residents to seek shelter and pleading with Jamaicans abroad to call loved ones “before it’s too late.” Still, officials acknowledged that many have refused to leave their homes, choosing to guard their property instead.

As Melissa churns across the island, authorities warn that the coming hours will be critical. The storm’s powerful winds and deluge threaten to cut off entire communities, with the recovery effort expected to be long and grueling once skies finally clear.