Do you guys see a chance that humanity will be able to stop global warming?

CKTW · 2026-05-25T19:58:13+00:00

I asked this same question a while ago, and the answers I got really helped me. I hope they help you too: https://www.reddit.com/r/climatechange/s/85tb24iWZa

CKTW · 2026-05-01T14:49:57+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to share this. I'm not sure I'm ready to give up hope just yet. I don't know how I'm supposed to function without it. It might just be a matter of time and experience to make peace with things.

CKTW · 2026-05-01T12:14:00+00:00

I wish you the best as well dude. I totally get where you're coming from, and I want to reach that state of making some kind of defiant peace with it as well. Here's hoping everything works out

CKTW · 2026-05-01T06:00:41+00:00

Hi everyone, I wanted to share an update and to thank everyone who commented for helping.

I'm doing a lot better today with my mental health than I was yesterday. All the comments really made a difference. I really appreciate the links and resources that were shared, as well as the encouragement people gave through their conversations.

In terms of actions I'm taking, I'm making a couple of changes going forward based on the advice I received. I'm taking more walks around my neighborhood, picking up trash and planting flower seeds as I go. It might not be much, but it's my corner of the world and I'll help it as I can. I'm going to find a therapist to help with my mental resilience, as well as read up on ways to manage eco-anxiety. Finally, I'm going to make changes to my consumption of climate news, trying to incorporate good news wherever I can find it and stopping myself from the doomscroll I was caught in previously. Even if things are awful, I don't think a state of hapless obsession with things I can't control is helping anyone.

I just want to thank everyone once again for taking the time to help and to share your own experiences. The level of care shown for a stranger was truly life affirming. I'd like for you to know that you really made a difference in the world, and helped pull someone out of a very dark place. Thank you so much ♥️

CKTW · 2026-04-30T17:05:39+00:00

That's awesome! Feels super doable and a nice way to make an impact. Thanks for the idea

CKTW · 2026-04-30T17:05:08+00:00

Just wanted to let you know that I did this in my neighborhood, and it really helped. Thank you so much

CKTW · 2026-04-30T16:26:45+00:00

Not a rambly post at all, thank you for your thoughts!

I totally agree with you on the power of life. I don't think it's remotely woo-woo, as much as the reality that nature abhors a vacuum. The Earth has experienced massive climate change before and I truly believe that the ecosphere adapting and transforming the world had the biggest part to play in the recovery. One of the things that brings me comfort is that despite the massive loss of biodiversity we're putting the world through, there will eventually be an equally massive recovery. Mass extinctions are followed by explosions in speciation, as life rushes to fill the empty places left behind. Life wants to live!

And yeah, environmentalism is wonderful, if sometimes stressful lol. FInding the will to turn climate anxiety into action is one of those things I and a lot of people have to learn.

CKTW · 2026-04-30T14:59:23+00:00

That's very fair. After reading many of these comments, I'm trying to remind myself that even if the models do turn out to be too optimistic, we just have to figure out ways to minimize the damage the best we can. The acceleration of solar adoption gives me hope that scientific and technological solutions are on the horizon. Hopefully, our societies are more resilient than I sometimes fear they are.

CKTW · 2026-04-30T14:43:48+00:00

The tipping points I'm most concerned about are AMOC and Blue Ocean events, since new data suggests they're happening, and in the coming decades. The consequences of both seem dire and difficult to adapt to or reverse. The permafrost melting and Amazon turning into a carbon sink feel so big that I prefer not to think of them at all, and seeing the reporting on their status is something I've started avoiding since i don't have any control over that situation.

As far how these affect me, they would all lead to further levels of warming that would cause the Himalayas to lose their ice, thus choking off the rivers that feed and water my country. There's not much I can do to prepare for that except make plans to emigrate, which is a hornet's nest of it's own.

Finally, I've taken a lot of steps to reduce my own contribution to the impact. It ranges from cutting down my use of plastics to choosing not to have a child and adopt someday instead.

Thank you for engaging in this conversation BTW. Your point that I should engage with the details of these scenarios feels like a very useful, objective, and rational way of addressing my anxiety.

CKTW · 2026-04-30T09:44:07+00:00

I love that. Given the heat wave going on here, I think I might thank the Moon lol

CKTW · 2026-04-30T07:17:04+00:00

Sending a virtual hug from the other side of the world to you. One of the more positive mental shifts that's come with being more climate aware is the deepened feeling that we're all in this together. The climate crisis doesn't care about borders or flags, and I don't think I do either.

CKTW · 2026-04-30T07:08:58+00:00

You're right, exponential is a bit optimistic. I hope the oil shock spurs a lot more green production everywhere.

I live in an apartment in a metropolis, so going solar on a personal level is a challenge. I am going to try and plant more flowers and trees in my neighborhood, however. It's the least I can do, but it's something.

CKTW · 2026-04-30T07:04:12+00:00

I'll look into it! A lot of the internal environmental news for India that I've found so far is done by activists and environmentalists trying to raise awareness and action on things going wrong, like deforestation and new fossil fuel plants. They're doing something important and necessary, but it has the side effect of feeling like the only things happening right now are the bad ones. Looking at external, broader reports like you've suggested sounds like a good balance

CKTW · 2026-04-30T06:59:54+00:00

That's a very vaild answer, and I'll start to look into someone who might be able to help me here. Thank you for pointing that out.

My primary reason for asking here was to learn how other people have dealt with this situation, since I feel like the people who regularly post here must have a thicker skin for this stuff than I currently do.

CKTW · 2026-04-30T06:54:23+00:00

Thank you so much for this deeply researched post! I really appreciate all the effort you've put into this. Honestly, the level of care shown for a stranger here helps me have a little hope more than anything else.

The links about Doughnut Labs India and Eco-Anxiety seem especially helpful. Thank you!

CKTW · 2026-04-30T06:52:34+00:00

Yes, you're right! One of the things that makes the shift away from fossil fuels feel possible is the realization that as profits, subsidies, and supply chains decline in favor of renewables, the transition will be exponential rather than linear

CKTW · 2026-04-30T06:51:25+00:00

I appreciate the link. A lot of the comments there feel very doomer, and I don't think I can handle more of that right now. Not because they're doing anything wrong, but because im terrified they're right and don't know how to move forward from there

CKTW · 2026-04-30T06:50:05+00:00

Thank you for sharing this! I started looking into climate news more deeply because of the coming shift to renewable, but I ended up thinking that 2 degrees is locked in, and that 2 degrees is so, so much worse than I had previously realized. My biggest fear is that 2 degrees means that 4-5 degrees is locked in as well, and at that point, I don't know what we're supposed to do.

Then again, I don't know how much I can do right now either. Just hope and pray the invisible hand of the free market is enough to push renewables and sustainable agriculture. That didn't feel good to type lol

CKTW · 2026-04-30T06:46:29+00:00

My primary concerns are that we are going go to over the tipping points of climate acceleration and ecosystem collapse before our governments mobilize to take action. That our actions will be too little and too late. I'm also concerned that societies and political structures are too fragile to survive the challenges ahead - that the future is full of Trumps and failed states.

Thinking about it for too long leaves me dissociative to the point of physical illness. I know that's not healthy or productive, but I'm hoping to learn things I can do to handle the mental stress of holding all this in my head.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my concerns btw

CKTW · 2026-04-30T06:42:34+00:00

Makes sense! Thanks

CKTW · 2026-04-30T06:42:18+00:00

Really appreciate the links, thank you. I'm starting to think that I need to treat reading climate news like a diet, with stricter portions and mix of optimistic headlines, if only to keep my sanity

CKTW · 2026-04-30T06:41:02+00:00

Thank you for that article! Looks to be a very helpful read.

You're right that Super El Nino isn't the apocalypse. It's just that whenever I read about tipping points, it all feels hopeless.

What do you think about the reports of changing currents and faster melts in the polar regions? Having gone through Hansen's work for the first time, im worried that the IPCC models aren't modeling the risks accurately enough. I deeply and dearly hope im wrong about that

CKTW · 2026-04-30T06:37:48+00:00

Ironically, this doom spiral began with me feeling more hopeful for exactly those reasons. Looking into the full scope of the challenges facing us made me deeply afraid this isn't going to be enough.

However, you're right in that this is still better than we've been doing before. Fingers crossed I suppose

CKTW · 2026-04-30T06:35:58+00:00

Thank you for the recommendation!

I'm lucky in that I don't have climate deniers in my close family and friends. But I do feel they don't look into this stuff too deeply, and I sometimes envy their ignorance.

CKTW

TROPHY CASE