We have been told so many times that the end of the world is imminent and that we only have 12 years, 10 years, five years to turn the tide on climate change that it now sounds like a broken record.
The problem is this kind of dramatism isn’t founded in science. Bodies like the IPCC consistently conflate things we are very sure of, like the fact that humans are warming the planet, with other things where the science is muddied and there is plenty of uncertainty, like the idea that there will be a two-meter rise in sea level by 2034.
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The result is that it is hard to take these reports seriously, but this kind of alarmism isn’t neutral. We can’t all laugh it off and move on.
It is actively harmful because it undermines genuine efforts to combat climate change and it plays into destructive narratives which reduce the poor’s quality of life and fuel inequality.
Feeling that you are doing your bit to save the planet is a luxury not everyone can afford, and headline-chasing climate alarmism shouting about how ‘the end is nigh’ only entrenches and exacerbates inequalities, not to mention ruining climate policy discourse.
