We face daunting global challenges. But here are eight reasons to be hopeful | John D Boswell

Although the trends can be hard to perceive, we are making incredible progress on global poverty, health, longevity and climate change

Don't fret the future.

A lot of people do, and for powerful reasons - we are facing enormous challenges unprecedented in human history, from climate change and nuclear war to engineered pandemics and malicious artificial intelligence. A 2017 survey showed that nearly four in 10 Americans think that climate change alone has a good chance of triggering humanity's extinction. But we seem largely blind to the many profound reasons for hope - and it's not entirely our fault.