Misguided “opinion leaders” have induced such panic in our youth that one in five British children reported having nightmares about climate change (Reuters, March 2, 2020). Certain “green” spokesmen and non-profit groups have admitted to their overheated rhetoric but justify it on grounds that only a widespread sense of panic will move the needle on their causes.

Michael Shellenberger, author of Apocalypse Never, says besides its disastrous impact on impressionable souls the world over, the climate alarmism stoked by many “green” groups has actually harmed their own efforts. But the doom-and-gloom effect is a problem, and Shellenberger confronts it with data. Optimistic data from his book can be found on his website Environmental Progress (EP).

If someone in your life worries excessively over climate change, a few points from EP’s extensive materials could help dispel fear. Certainly climate alarmism, amplified by sensationalistic mass media, has destroyed any nuance in scientific and political dialogue over green issues. Shellenberger’s data helps restore facts over the kind of fiction that spurs teens like Greta Thunberg to refuse ever to have children.

A link to the EP slide deck is below. But first, some highlights:

• By 2013 the world’s farmers and food companies were producing enough food for 10 billion people.
• Roughly 40% of the planet got “greener” between 1981 and 2016.
• Less than 1% of the 112,432 plant, animal, and insect species on Earth has gone extinct since 1500.
• Global infant and child mortality as a share of population has declined from 43% to 4%.
• From 1981 to 2015, the global population living in extreme poverty fell from 44% to 10%.

Tell your favorite youngster not to despair — the world isn’t going to burn and we aren’t going extinct! Well, at least not due to climate change. Birth control is another issue…

Link to the Apocalypse Never slide deck: https://environmentalprogress.org/apocalypse-never-slide-deck

More on Environmental Progress: https://environmentalprogress.org/about