Photo illustration by Slate. Photo by Getty Images Plus. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Early January is resolution season, and in climate circles that means rehashing the same old debate : Given the enormity of the problem we’re facing, and the amount of responsibility for it that falls at the level of corporations and countries, does individual action even matter? After all, the sum total of all climate action hasn’t gotten us to a stable place. After decades of effort—recycling, planting trees, every solar panel ever installed on a roof, all those paper straws—global warming is still accelerating. In 2024, the world burned more fossil fuels than it ever has before . Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are now surging at the fastest rate in human history . What we’re doing is not only not working, but we’re still actively making the problem worse. Not only was 2024 the hottest year in history, it was also the first year to surpass the critical 1.5 degree Celsius threshold above which global warming will begin to accelerate on its own accord and some effects will become irreversible. We are leaping outside the normal operating space of our planet, and if scientists are to be believed, things will be getting pretty ugly pretty fast. This year, the warning signs looming would be almost comically bad if they weren’t so serious. What can ordinary people even do? A common response is: vote for climate champions. Given recent events, that feels scarily feeble and unsatisfying . The richest person who has ever lived is being given free rein by a would-be authoritarian to r ail against the very foundations of scientific research . By this point, it should […]