To understand the scale of the climate emergency, look at hurricanes | Peter Kalmus

Climate breakdown is far more intense in 2022 than even many scientists expected, yet the world still isn't treating this like a crisis

I became a climate activist 16 years ago. Back then, not many people cared about climate change. The eye rolls were audible. Media coverage was scarce, and what little there was glibly included both sides". It was frustrating and tragic to see such a clear and present danger and to know that it was still mostly avoidable, yet ignored by society.

I assumed that intensifying, in-your-face climate disasters would serve as a sort of backstop to finally force action. I even hoped that humanity would listen to scientists and start acting before things got that bad. I didn't think this was too much to expect; after all, the scientific fundamentals are easy enough to grasp.

Peter Kalmus is a climate scientist and author of Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution