A few weeks ago, Hannah Ritchie published a cheery article in the Guardian announcing that her work as a data scientist has taught her that "there are more reasons for hope than despair about climate change – and why a truly sustainable world is in reach.”

Many readers seemed to welcome that sunny outlook, which is understandable. Nobody likes bad news. Nearly everyone prefers hope and optimism.

But here is another opinion piece responding to Ritchie's claims and taking the opposite point of view:
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Is this a time for optimism or pessimism when it comes to climate change? This is a time for deep, deep pessimism. In this article we will talk about the reasons why pessimism is warranted, and the actions it should prompt humanity to take.

Humanity stands on the brink of at least ten imminent catastrophes. To write that article and present this tone of optimism, the author [Hannah Ritchie] has ignored these imminent catastrophes. Any one of these catastrophes would be terrible. In combination they have the potential to be civilization-ending.

The most obvious catastrophe is a multi-faceted crop failure that cuts global food production to the point where millions of people are dying of starvation.

Another imminent catastrophe is the collapse of the Amazon rainforest.

Another imminent catastrophe is a Blue Ocean Event in the Arctic, closely followed by the collapse of Arctic permafrost.

Another imminent catastrophe is the collapse of major glaciers in Antarctica, which will cause enormous sea level rise.

Another imminent catastrophe is a series of rogue heat waves killing millions of people in places like India, China, Africa, the Middle East, and so on.

Right now, humanity is standing around waiting for these catastrophes to arrive, and then will be dumbstruck when they do – most people lack any awareness of what is coming, and/or they willfully deny it. Meanwhile, we have prominent authors who are telling us that, “there are more reasons for hope than despair about climate change.”
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The author of this piece, Marshall Brain, goes on to suggest five steps that must be taken now. He then concludes: "These are the kinds of activities that would have a real effect on climate change. We could do all these things, and dozens more. When we see real efforts like these happening, it will be a time for guarded optimism."

FULL ARTICLE -- https://wraltechwire.com/2024/01/12/marshall-brain-this-is-the-worst-possible-time-for-climate-change-optimism/

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