I traveled the world studying climate change. To my surprise, I found reason to hope.
Fixing this won't be as easy as ripping away plastic film — gases aren't easy to grip. Plus, we're not the only species feeling the heat: so do those that pollinate our food, break down our wastes, enrich our soil, and fill our plates. Put it this way: We co-evolved with them. Not only ecologists, but our religions warn that we can't have a world without them. But between climate cues gone askew and
In 2019, I began investigating our realistic hopes for reversing the bad numbers that kept soaring along with the temperature, such as millions of refugees fleeing drought, floods, flames, or unbearable heat. Could we rein in climate change before it waxes out of control, at least enough to give us time to adapt? Raise enough food for everyone without
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A dozen countries, one global pandemic, and a brief stint in jail later (I was reporting on protesters chained to a tar-sands oil pipeline being rammed through Ojibwe country in Minnesota when
,
I met ingenious, inspiring, visionary people — engineers, scientists, farmers, architects, Indigenous elders, Gen Z futurists, even the military — determined to find us a viable future. Here's a sampling of what encourages me that this human work in progress isn't over yet:
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1)
2) In one of Earth's poorest places, a
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3) Could utility-based energy also go clean? Look no farther than Commonwealth Fusion Systems in Devens, which
4) Celebrated plant breeder
5) In Iraq's Mesopotamian cradle of civilization, dictator
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After two years of fruitlessly begging for international assistance, for $30 they rented earthmoving equipment and punched through Hussein's main diversion dike themselves. Two months later, green reed shoots appeared. Today, returning plants, fish, reptiles, and mammals have restored a functioning ecosystem and a mecca for migratory birds, and have
6) Back in the United States, I entered wildlife preserves and federal courtrooms with the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity, which, wielding one of the world's most powerful environmental laws, the
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Alan Weisman is a writer in Western Massachusetts. His new book,
will be published April 22 by Dutton. Send comments to magazine@globe.com.
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