If we are to prevent the planet from entering into positive feedback loops that spiral the climate completely out of control, to 6°C or more, it's up to our leaders to act decisively, collectively and scientifically. Because Covid-19 is nothing compared to a 6°C hotter planet - and the science is crystal clear on this.

The person in the Oval Office after the November 2020 US presidential election will probably seal the fate of the planet. The coronavirus is hurting everyone, and the responses have ultimately driven the entire planet into a tailspin. But as surely as lockdown sucks, so too will there be a brighter, post-pandemic future. The climate crisis, however, carries no such certainty; it is an existential threat. The critical narratives emerging from the handling of the current crisis have to be observed, and changed, before we again reach the point where the next one is out of control.

The Late Show host Stephen Colbert interviewed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, a full symbolic decade ago in the halcyon days of early March 2020. He asked Tyson about the Covid-19 pandemic. Tyson's response was incisive: "... I think we're in the middle of a massive experiment worldwide... will...