On the doomer side, the pessimists view incremental progress as a smoke screen obscuring the actions needed to reverse out-of-control global warming. They argue that optimists inject complacency into the climate movement.
On the optimist side, the prevailing belief is that we can incentivize innovation and cooperation to beat climate change. They argue that pessimism leads to giving up.
Stories emerged this week on both sides of this divide:
For the Doomers:
- Unprecedented climate change-linked floods in Brazil caused one of the world’s largest climate migrations.
- Scientists admit we’ve surpassed 1.5°C and will likely reach at least 2.5C.
- Record high atmospheric CO2 levels were reached recently, and we saw the largest yearly increase.
- Last summer was the warmest in 2000 years.
Tony Leiserowitz, a Yale professor on climate change communication, said, “The notion of a ‘doomer camp’ is overstated… In fact, the far larger and more important problem is that most Americans are not worried enough.”
Illustration: Fiona Katauskas/The Guardian
For the Optimists:
- Renewables recently reached 30% of global power generation.
- Battery storage is becoming integral in stabilizing renewable-powered grids.
- New tech like carbon capture is coming online.
Christiana Figueres, one of the architects of the Paris Agreement, wrote in an op-ed this week explaining why stubborn optimism is critical, saying, “A sense of despair is understandable, but it robs us of our agency, makes us vulnerable to mis- and disinformation, and prevents the radical collaboration we need.” In a similar article released this week, climate scientists Michael Mann and Katharine Hayhoe said, “The facts dictate urgency and agency. Our future is still in our hands.”