Things Are Going To Get Worse

So don't give up!

Imagine working hard to achieve positive results but the opposite is happening. Not only do your efforts not appear to be making progress, but you’re actually going backward. Things are not getting better, but are, despite your efforts, continuing to get worse.

I want you to imagine this—think hard—because it is exactly what it has, is, and will be like for a while with our climate work.

Enough carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have already been spewed into the atmosphere to trigger a chain of negative effects. In scientific terms, we’ve reached tipping points, critical thresholds that, when exceeded, lead to large and often irreversible changes in the state of the ecosystem.

The scariest thing about tipping points is that, although we have an idea of what might happen, we actually don’t know. What will happen when all of Greenland’s ice sheets are gone? How much exactly will the sea levels change, and what will that do to people, infrastructure, and other species? Melting ice sheets is just one tipping point; we’re racing toward many more.

We are disrupting the world’s natural ecosystems and have been for way too long. It will continue to lead to even weirder weather, more intense storms, and more unpredictable seasons. As a result, species will continue to go extinct, people will have to flee their homes, political turbulence will worsen, and everything from food to energy prices will go up. It’s the reality we created—the bed we made for ourselves—so it is what it is.

Unfortunately, CO₂ doesn’t just disappear once we stop producing it, so even if we were to quit burning fossil fuels tomorrow, there’s already enough in the atmosphere to keep the globe warming for a while. We’ve “baked ourselves in,” so to speak, and we will continue to deal with this old damage.

I want you to understand this because even if we are heading in the right direction, things will get worse for a while. Knowing this is critical because we must be able to witness the chaos and still not give up.

We must continue to have faith and know that we are making progress, that we are making the right choices, and we are building toward a better and more sustainable world.

We must continue to ramp up our efforts and do all we can to halt climate change and remember that, yes, we are making a difference, and even though we can’t see the results yet, we are headed in the right direction.

It will be tough. Watching the world around us get more and more unstable is going to take a toll on us, which is why the work shared in this book is so important. I want you to work on emotional resilience and heal yourself regularly so you can continue to show up and be a powerful force in this work.

I want you to understand how important it is to dream, believe in even better realities, and use that as your motivation to fuel your efforts. I want you to practice humility and open-mindedness, continue to ask questions, and seek even better answers. I want you to learn from others, share what you know, and find community in everything you do.

If you do this, if we all do this, I think humanity is strong enough to get us through to the other side.

Yes, there will be heartbreak, but there will be lots of wins and laughter too, so keep going! Remember why you’re here, remember what we have to do, and start treating this time—the most exciting time ever to be alive—as the adventure it truly is.

A better world is possible, and we’re already on our way. All you have to do is get on board and continue to show up for every win, every discovery, and every exciting turn along the way.

And don’t give up. Whatever you do, just don’t give up.

This was a chapter from The Climate Optimist Handbook. Get yours today where you buy books!