Whose lives are going to be affected? Everybody's lives, but particularly those of today's youth and of future generations.

Desertification, drought, floods, fires, extreme weather and other climate-driven plagues are already happening, devastating millions of human lives. Future generations will suffer much harsher consequences, unless the climate and ecological breakdown is managed as an emergency.

For instance, research shows that some 150 million people are living on land that — given the present warming trends — will be below the high-tide line by midcentury.

Kulp SA, Strauss BH. 2019. New elevation data triple estimates of global vulnerability to sea-level rise and coastal flooding. Nature Communications 10, 4844.