Originally a comment by Francis Boyle on The situation evolved rapidly.

Terrible as this is it’s almost the best case scenario. The worst case scenario would be that the planet warms more or less uniformly with the tropics slowly becoming uninhabitable while the industrialised world looks on with much hand-wringing but precious little useful action. This way everyone is on notice that it’s their life or at least their property that is on the line.

Now, I’m not pretending that anyone is voluntarily going to give up their lives of consumption-for-the-sake-of-consumption. The sense of entitlement is too deeply engrained in the wealthy and the wannabee wealthy. But we have an opportunity to make the worst of the destructive behaviours along with opposition to necessary change socially shameful. Unfortunately, it seems that the majority of climate activists are stuck in a mindset that has outlived its usefulness. What’s so shocking about dyeing the Trevi fountain black when the land is being burnt black? We know the problem. Stunts whose only effect are to publicise that there is a problem look, and are, self indulgent. And for that reason they backfire, badly.

I don’t want to do the “young people today” thing. It was people of my generation who created a world where performative narcissism is almost the only sane, or at least effective, strategy.But I suspect a little bit of genuinely subversive thought would go a long way. (I’m looking at you Penny, Maugham and Ince. The house of the self-regarding is getting crowded.) Of course, that requires actually thinking and who has time for that these days?