In the grand scheme of things, a mere 200 years ago, industrial activity has escalated the world's temperature by a staggering degree. This increase is equivalent to the total range ever experienced by Homo sapiens since we first set foot on Earth, over 200,000 years ago. The speed at which this is happening, however, is unprecedented. Our planet has been warming 170 times faster than it was cooling in the previous 7,000 years. This rapid pace is a challenge that ecosystems cannot cope with.

The Miscommunication of a Global Crisis

Communicating about this crisis has been a daunting task. The language used by experts and politicians has often been technical, elitist, and now, authoritarian. The average global temperature has risen by 1.2 degrees Celsius, a fractional amount that, while significant, is hard to comprehend. When people are told that the world is already warmed by this amount, their fear or concern might be minimal. After all, this is just an average for night and day, summer and winter, over land and sea. But when we discuss incomparable averages, we risk losing the public to those who dismiss us as wanting to hurt their standard of living for a mere 1.5 degrees.

The Climate Brightsiding Mentality

The public is also bombarded with the idea that there is some inevitable warming ahead due to the heat within the oceans and the carbon in the atmosphere. In response, some suggest that technologies like mechanical direct air capture of CO2 can help. However, their low effectiveness and high energy demands should not instill confidence. Economic growth, it's argued, can be sufficiently decoupled from resources so that the world economy can keep growing without terrible consequences. But research debunks this argument, and both psychological research and activist testimony show that anticipating difficult futures is not demotivating. Instead, believing that technology and big business will sort things out for us is demotivating.

The Authoritarian Turn in Climate Communication

As the crisis impacts worsen, the tone of communication about the climate crisis is shifting. Often, when leaders realize that the systems they administer are threatened, they respond with Draconian measures that make matters worse. For instance, brutal approaches to law and order in the wake of climate disasters can inspire leaders to curtail personal freedoms. Resistant populations might then view action on climate change as synonymous with coercion and coercive power rather than collaboration. We're already hearing authoritarian statements on climate issues instead of focusing on freeing us all from the systems that drive us to dump costs onto each other and nature.

The Need for