6. Imagination is a superpower

There is a sad failure of imagination at the root of this crisis.

An inability to perceive both the terrible and the wonderful.

An inability to imagine how all these things are connected, how what we burn in our powerplants and car engines pumps out carbon dioxide that goes up into the sky.

Some cannot see that the world, which has been so stable for 10,000 years, is now destabilised, and full of new perils and dangerous feedback loops.

Others cannot imagine that we can actually do what is necessary – which is nothing less than building a new and better world.

This is one of the remarkable things about this crisis: though the early climate movement emphasised austerity, a lot of what we need to give up is poison, destruction, injustice and devastation.

The world could be far richer by many measures if we do what this catastrophe demands of us.

If we don't, catastrophes such as the violent flooding that recently cut off Canada's largest port and stranded the city of Vancouver are reminders that the cost of addressing the crisis is dwarfed by the cost of not doing so.

7. Check the facts (and watch out for liars)