Don't believe the hype: 5 reasons to be pessimistic about climate change

As things stand, we are in for a world of hurt

Drought
(Image credit: (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images))

Much of the recent commentary on climate change has taken far too rosy a view of the issue. Some representative headlines include "10 reasons to be hopeful that we will overcome climate change" and "The case for optimism on climate change."

While there have certainly been some encouraging developments in the past two decades, any analysis focusing solely on the positive will paint an incomplete picture of the challenges ahead. The changes needed to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change will be quite wide ranging — far beyond what we are currently implementing.

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Neil Bhatiya

Neil Bhatiya is a Policy Associate at The Century Foundation, where he works on issues related to U.S. foreign policy, with a specific focus on South Asia and climate change.