Last week, world leaders gathered in Glasgow for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, the latest in a long line of summits aimed at finding a solution to the climate crisis. Some gains were made, at least on paper: a number of countries signed on to pledges that would halt deforestation by 2030 and cut emissions of methane. And yet, as Elizabeth Kolbert writes in her Comment in the November 15th issue of the magazine: “The sad fact is that, when it comes to climate change, there’s no making up for lost time. Every month that carbon emissions remain at current levels—they’re running at about forty billion tons a year—adds to the eventual misery. Had the U.S. started to lead by example three decades ago, the situation today would be very different. It’s still not too late to try—indeed, it’s imperative to try—but, to quote Boris Johnson, ‘humanity has long since run down the clock on climate change.’ ” This prevailing mood, of justified gloom and necessary optimism, inspired the artist Eric Drooker’s latest cover, which features an appearance from that enduring dreamer of impossible dreams, Don Quixote de la Mancha.
Sourse: newyorker.com
