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Hey, no need to apologize! This is something I’ve had a tough time with for a while, so it’s also helpful for me to articulate some of my thoughts to someone else.

As far as getting other people interested: that’s a fantastic reason to spend time learning about a topic! Good on you for taking an educational stance on something so important.

The fact that you’re new to this information about climate change does change (slightly) what I was saying previously: I’m in my 30s and I’ve been reading report after report for over a decade and only recently decided to avoid them.

The fact that you’re new to this is challenging because it’s important for you to learn about climate change, but it’s not exactly a topic that inspires hope. I’m not sure which specific report you’re referring to, but you do need to remember that there are a lot of reports out there that are really overblown and sensationalized.

Climate change is definitely a threat, but environmental science is also ridiculously complicated. It’s easy for people with little understanding of a topic to make commentary on it (and sound convincing because they’re using technical terminology!) But they may not be qualified to make the claims they’re making.

As you educate yourself, I’d stick to intro-level educational resources from universities and science organizations – they tend to be less “doom and gloom,” more focused on solutions, and they avoid making over-the-top claims.

Also, remember that climate change is, well, change. And change is scary. But the fact that the future is going to be different doesn’t mean that everything is going to become terrible one day and be terrible forever until we all die in under 100 years (which as many people have said in this thread, is extremely unlikely.) The future will have good times and bad times, just like there are now. But this kind of change means that we need to adapt and be more resilient than ever: luckily, humans are excellent at adaptation.

So don’t let this report ruin your life: you’re right that you won’t be the same again after learning about climate change, but that’s normal! It’s a part of learning and growing. “Ignorance is bliss” is a phrase for a reason: it really does suck sometimes learning about the world, because not everything about the world is blissful. But now you’re going to take climate change seriously and help others do the same, and that’s a powerful thing.

So again, focus on what you can control, maybe find some less intense resources to learn from, educate your peers so they can help move things in the right direction, and take a deep breath. You’re going to be okay!