Here’s how climate social scientists are finding their way in the era of climate crisis
Published: June 3, 2024 3:17pm EDT

In early May The Guardian reported on a survey that explored the thoughts and feelings of 380 climate scientists. It was not uplifting. The pull quotes tell a story of anguish. “Sometimes it is almost impossible not to feel hopeless and broken…Running away from it is impossible.”

Wrenching articles like these showcase climatologists’ anxiety. They are watching their predictions realized with too much fidelity; their warnings going largely unheeded by the humanity that climate scientist James Hansen called “damned fools.” Some climate scientists have even proposed a moratorium on climate research.

Climatologists are not OK.

The acceleration of the climate crisis has been breathtaking and talking to experts in a time of crisis is a good thing. But these articles are problematic. They seek to motivate through fear while usualy offering only vague notions of absent “political will” to diagnosis the problem and little beyond “listen to the scientists” as a solution.

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