Essays and books about the climate crisis conventionally open by setting the scene — invoking the latest storms, floods, droughts, and wildfires made more severe by the abnormally warm climate, and perhaps reeling off some of the nightmarish scenarios that our current emissions trajectory makes probable over the next few decades. This essay, for example, might begin by selecting from among countless recent headlines: the fierce heatwaves and prolonged drought that affected much of Europe as well as swathes of China and the U.S. over the summer; the lethally hot spring in India; the flooding in Pakistan that killed over 1,500 people and displaced 33 million; Hurricane Ian, which killed 110 in Florida and may prove to be among the most