Which works better: climate fear, or climate hope? Well, it's complicated

Communication is everything when it comes to the climate change debate - and there isn't just one way to speak to people's emotions

There's a debate in climate circles about whether you should try to scare the living daylights out of people, or give them hope - think images of starving polar bears on melting ice caps on the one hand, and happy families on their bikes lined with flowers and solar-powered lights on the other.

The debate came to something of a head this year, after David Wallace-Wells lit up the internet with his 7,000-word, worst-case scenario published in New York magazine. It went viral almost instantly, and soon was the best-read story in the magazine's history. A writer in Slate called it "the Silent Spring of our time". But it also garnered tremendous criticism and from more than the usual denier set.