Big Think

What the news won't tell you about climate change | Hannah Ritchie, PhD


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**🌍 Feeling hopeless about climate change? You're not alone — but the data tells a more hopeful story.**

Oxford researcher Hannah Ritchie was once overwhelmed too. But by zooming out and studying centuries of progress, she discovered something remarkable: humanity *has* solved massive environmental problems before — and we can do it again.

She breaks climate change down into four critical battlegrounds: **energy, transport, food, and construction**. The good news? We already have the tools — solar and wind are now cheaper than coal, EVs are surpassing gas cars in sales, and we can cut land use and emissions by rethinking how we farm and eat. Even cement, a notoriously dirty material, is seeing exciting innovations.

But this isn't blind optimism. It's what she calls **"urgent optimism"** — knowing that change is possible, but only if we fight for it.

đŸ”„ We’ve passed the tipping point on some trends — the rest is up to us.

👉 *Ready to see how technology, policy, and people power can rewrite our future?*

Timestamps:

0:00 - An ‘insurmountable’ problem?

1:10 - 4 key targets to solve climate change

04:27 - How we reduce our emissions

09:36 - Being an ‘urgent optimist’

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