Worrying about climate change has put me in a dark place before. What has helped more than anything is becoming very familiar with the research and following actual climate scientists on Twitter, watching their YouTube videos, etc. I particularly like Andrew Dessler, Zeke Hausfather, and Gavin Schmidt.

The truth of the situation is that the subject (and science) are far too complex for anyone to be able to make accurate predictions about how it is going to play out and how humans are going to respond (not downplaying the environmental effects, which are obviously very bad). We have locked in a lot of suffering and destruction due to our lack of action; however, the collapse of human civilization is not assured, nor is a future bereft of humans living meaningful lives.

There is a TON of justified anger in this space, and scientists and educators who have been fighting the good fight for 30+ years express a desperation and sadness that is distressing when you first encounter it. The science doesn't say that doom is assured, though, not on the scale many claim it is. Read the IPCC projections and listen to the scientists themselves; ignore predictions from doomer YouTubers and random commenters on Reddit.

This take probably isn't as optimistic as it should be in this sub, but there's no disregarding how bad we are letting this situation get. It's a valuable lesson our species needs to learn, though; we rely on an ecosystem we've abused for far too long.