I know climate change is terrifying to the youngest generations. Their eyes are not blinded by decades of experience and the expectation that old patterns will repeat. So the raw reality of a rapidly changing world, and the risk of the end of civilization, are evident and emotionally overwhelming.
I'm writing this to tell you we have a pathway out of this mess, and to a better future.
As things get worse in coming years, there will be water shortages, and wars and refugees. All sorts of unimaginable bad things will happen. You and I may die before our time. But whatever happens, here is always here, and now is always now. There is work to be done today, and the correct path to be followed, and people around us that need care. Even in the worst situations, social networks remain. People keep caring about each other.
Eventually, when the coastal property of the rich is threatened, the world will take action. And around that point, the risks of climate engineering will be lower than what is actually happening. Scientists knew it would come to this. They have been working on solutions for decades. They know what to do already. We just have to persist through whatever day-to-day disasters befall us, until the world is stabilized.
Humans have become so powerful we have dominated the earth. Now that we have done so, we must take responsibility for it. We must preserve it through whatever means are at our disposal. We are like fish in a dirty fish tank. Eventually we will turn on the filter.
Reportedly, someone once asked the Dalai Lama how he could remain positive in the world we live in. He said, "What else would you suggest?" and laughed. This is the correct perspective.