Why the Congo Rainforest is critical to climate change. | Robert Kain, BSCE, MS | TEDxTaftAvenue
Grauer’s gorillas, Earth’s largest primates, are being killed for bushmeat, and the Congo Rainforest, their home, is being destroyed by fire. Scientists have recently discovered that the Congo Rainforest’s net CO2 absorption is far more than any other forest, much more than the larger Amazon, making saving it an urgent climate change priority. After retiring from a career creating environmentally friendly, energy-efficient buildings, Robert Kain changed course in 2022 to address the Congo Rainforest catastrophe. His TED talk explores whether the rainforest that nobody knows can be saved. Visit www.congorainforestfund.org to learn more. Robert Kain BSCE and MS in Physics, is a civil engineer who spent 43 years managing the design and construction of large buildings and complex structures. His projects included directing the design and construction of the tallest office building west of Chicago, Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, the JP Morgan Chase building at 560 Mission in San Francisco, Alza Plaza (now the Google Headquarters in Mountain View, California), life science buildings throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, and the first world class bioresearch building in India, for Novartis. He was a national leader and champion of energy efficiency and sustainable practices in building projects. In 2022 after visiting Congo, Kain pivoted to philanthropy and co-founded the Congo Rainforest Fund to protect the essential Congo Rainforest and the habitat of the Eastern Lowland (Grauer gorilla). His hope is to make a huge impact on climate crisis mitigation. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
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