Author Tim Winton has described global heating as an outrage rather than a tragedy, arguing that it is being done to us knowingly by a narrow class of people who profit from our anguish.
Warnings becoming reality
Writing in the Guardian, Winton said the dangerous conditions climate scientists long warned of have become our common experience. Season by season, he noted, our acquaintance with disorder and extremities deepens. In both hemispheres, wildfires rage into cities and incinerate entire neighbourhoods, while marine heatwaves are bleaching corals and cooking seagrasses on a global scale.
This northern summer brought temperatures most Europeans associate with the Australian desert, he said. Heat events in Europe have paralysed whole countries, destroyed infrastructure and killed citizens in their thousands.
A crime, not a tragedy
Winton said life at barely 1.5C of heating since pre-industrial times is tough to digest, but the awful truth is we are on track for nearly twice this. He referenced his 2024 novel, Juice, about a world that has lurched beyond even the horror zone of 3C of heating, and said he hopes readers are wrong about its visionary aspect, as the world of Juice is a nightmare he fervently hopes we will not pass on to our descendants.
He described the current cultural malaise as a debilitating communal illness whose symptoms include febrile delirium, visceral rage and nihilistic lassitude. Sufferers thirst for honest information, are addled by a tide of bullshit, and yearn for solidarity and common purpose.
Call for honest reporting
Winton argued that what we are experiencing is not a mystery ailment, inevitable, or a tragedy, but an outrage. He said it is not a natural calamity but something being done to us knowingly, which makes it a crime. A narrow class of people, he said, are profiting from our anguish, knowing they are setting our world on fire, and caring about money and power rather than the Earth or its people.
He criticised climate coverage as evasive, recklessly shallow or simply dishonest, noting that oligarchs who own the news and direct social media algorithms are committed to keeping it that way. He said factual reporting on the trajectory of our heating world is more vital than ever, as honest information is central to humanity's chances of securing a safe and decent existence for our children.
Winton said he reads and writes for the Guardian because it is one of the few honest brokers left in the mainstream media ecosystem, distinguished by courageous, forensic reporting on climate. He noted there are no billionaires dictating its editorial line and no fossil fuel corporations allowed to launder their reputations in its advertising platforms. He encouraged support for this year's climate support campaign, which highlights the Guardian's unrivalled coverage of the climate emergency, including ideas and initiatives that can help tackle it.
