Ten Climate Politics Trends I’m Expecting in 2019

I’m normally not a huge fan of making predictions, but as we start the New Year, I thought it might be fun (and a bit nerve-racking) to take an educated guess at what might come to pass in the world of climate politics in 2019. 2018 was a big year for climate – with devastating hurricanes and wildfires, landmark U.S. and international climate science reports, a rulebook for the Paris Agreement, continuing rollbacks of environmental protections by the Trump administration, and a growing chorus of subnational leaders that are stepping up to the plate.

Moving Beyond Climate Depression

It’s May 2015, and I’m snorkeling off an uninhabited island in the South Pacific. A massive sloping reef stretches as far as I can see, forming a continuous rainbow blanket. The coral grows extraordinarily well here, covering over 90% of the reef. Neon-colored guppies dart in and out of the coral, and a school of silver trumpet fish surrounds my body, catching the sun’s rays through the ocean’s surface. As I descend, my ears are blasted by a deafening roar. It’s the sound of thousands of snapping shrimp, making the underwater world sound like a 4th of July firework show. I’ve been to many reefs before, but I’ve never heard anything like this. Everywhere I look, there is life. When I return to the surface, someone grabs my shoulder. It’s our ship’s Chief Scientist, who points out a small patch of coral that doesn’t look like the others. Instead of eye-popping color, it’s white. Bleached white. I didn’t notice it before, but now I start seeing little patches of white popping into view across the entire reef. My stomach instantly does a sickening somersault.