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Overcoming Climate Overwhelm — the game that is out to change the world
Anger that sinks into despair is powerless to make a change. Anger that evolves into conviction is unstoppable.
— Christiana Figueres, The Future We Choose
Welcome to Earth Week.
I’m torn between writing this from the future, as if I’ve stepped into a time machine and arrived in 2050. It’s temperate, and the air is fresh — 50% tree cover means that we are breathing the finest air in several generations. Humans are thriving in green, living, solar-punk-esque cities.
Hold up, wait. That’s not right. We failed to cut our emissions in half by 2030! We were so far off track by 2050 that we couldn’t see the forest for the blaze! And now everything really is on fire, literally. Those who could grow their own food (that was me, by the way, once I got the hang of it), now have to defend their land from looters and the military, both of whom want to seize the whole damn lot.
God, it’s grim.
But we aren’t there yet.
It’s still just 2021. And it’s Earth Week. So now you get to think about the future too. This is my invitation to you.