It’s easy to be overwhelmed by climate despair.

Just look at the facts. Last month, stations near the north pole reached temperatures 30C above normal, with records smashed in Norway and Greenland. In the Antarctic, one station hit a record temperature of -11.8C, more than 40C warmer than seasonal norms.

Just look out our windows. Unprecedented rain and floods, deadly heatwaves, roaring forest fires, mass bleaching of reefs, ice shelves collapsing into the sea, birds falling from the sky.

Oh, and it’s going to get worse. Future predictions are even more dire than present reality, which is already dire enough.

We need collective action. We know more than a third of all greenhouse gas emissions since 1965 can be traced to just twenty fossil fuel companies. Sue them to kingdom come. Sue them out of existence.

Climate denial has become passé and the realm of the mentally ill. Or profiteering psychopath. We’re moving on from carbon shaming, it’s-too-late climate doomism and stirring up fights among climate advocates to paralyze behaviors and policies.

Governments must immediately stop subsidizing fossil fuel infrastructure, halt all oil leases and stop spouting misinformation. (It beggars belief that our elected representatives set our future on fire for a few dollars more.)    

Individual action can only take us so far. We need systemic change to ensure global sustainability. The surest way to achieve that is to vote for change.

Band together with others to overcome any personal despair. Demonstrate, protest, raise hell.

We have more energy and power when we join together.

Reference

“Urgency and agency: Michael Mann on conquering climate despair” Behavioral Scientist (2022)