They yell at us: "Stop being a doomer! You have to give people hope!"
To which I respond with what Greta Thunberg says: "I don't want your hope. I don't want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act!"
Along those lines, I strongly recommend this superb new essay from author and climate campaigner Jonathon Porritt, in which he explains that mainstream climate scientists, by insisting we should always be positive and hopeful, run the risk of becoming the new climate deniers.
Here is a brief summary...
The speed with which the climate is now changing is faster than (almost) all scientists thought possible.
There is now zero prospect of holding the average temperature increase this century to below 1.5°C; even 2°C is beginning to slip out of reach. The vast majority of climate scientists know this, but rarely if ever give voice to this critically important reality.
At the same time, the vast majority of people still haven’t a clue about what’s going on – and what this means for them and everything they hold dear.
The current backlash against existing (already wholly inadequate) climate measures is also accelerating – and will cause considerable political damage in 2024. Those driving this backlash represent the same old climate denial that has been so damaging over so many years.
The science-based institutions on which we depend to address this crisis have comprehensively failed us. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is incapable of telling the whole truth about accelerating climate change; the Conference of the Parties (under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) has been co-opted by the fossil fuel lobby to the point of total corruption.
By not calling out these incontrovertible realities, mainstream scientists are at risk of becoming the new climate deniers.
As Bread points out, and @gretathunberg said: "And then I need you to act."
Very true and wise words. Climate messaging needs more than doomerism. The dire situation needs to inspire actions we can encourage at the macro level, and take at the individual level.