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Catastrophic climate change outcomes, including human extinction, are not being taken seriously enough by scientists, a new [PNAS] study says. … the world needs to start preparing for the possibility of what they term the "climate endgame".
According to this new analysis, the closest attempts to directly understand or address how climate change could lead to global catastrophe have come from popular science books such as The Uninhabitable Earth and not from mainstream science research.
"Understanding these plausible but grim scenarios is something that could galvanise both political and civil opinion," said Dr Kemp.
"We saw this when it came to the identification of the idea of a nuclear winter that helped compel a lot of the public efforts as well as the disarmament movement throughout the 1970s and '80s."
"And I hope if we can find similar concrete and clear mechanisms when it comes to thinking about climate change, that it also has a similar effect."
The plea for serious study of more extreme scenarios will chime with many younger climate activists, who say they are often not addressed for fear of frightening people into inaction.
"It is vital that we have research into all areas of climate change, including the scary reality of catastrophic events," said Laura Young, a 25-year-old climate activist. "This is because without the full truth, and all of the potential impacts, we won't make the informed choices we need, and we won't be driving climate action with enough pressure.
