Scientists may believe that anything other than qualified statements made in careful, measured tones would undermine the legitimacy of their findings. But humans are emotional beings confronting an existential crisis.
While rapid technological progress is our best hope for mitigating climate change, today’s living standards in rich countries threaten both catastrophic climate change and local environmental destruction. Responsible consumer choice matters as well.
In the five years since the world came together to conclude the Paris climate agreement, the geopolitical environment has changed profoundly, and the disastrous effects of global warming have become increasingly evident. Having squandered past opportunities and shirked previous commitments, we now must start making up for lost time.
Financial markets remain blissfully in denial of the many predictable global crises that could come to a head this year, particularly in the months before the US presidential election. In addition to the increasingly obvious risks associated with climate change, at least four countries want to destabilize the US from within.
The world's rivers are under unprecedented pressure from contamination, damming, and diversion, which are straining water resources, destroying ecosystems, jeopardizing livelihoods, and damaging human health.
The grassroots movement behind the Green New Deal offers a ray of hope to the badly battered establishment: they should embrace it, flesh it out, and make it part of the progressive agenda.
