The climate change alarmists are given a free pass to throw out the most absurd rhetoric, such as a recent author's warning that potentially billions of people could die because of human-caused climate change
An Earth scientist's recent article making the rounds on social media highlights a terrifying conversation he had with "a very senior member" of the IPCC, which is the UN's body devoted to studying climate science. The upshot of their conversation was that millions of people will die from climate change, a conclusion that leads the author to lament that humans have created a consumption-driven civilization that is "hell bent on destroying itself."
As with most such alarmist rhetoric, there is little to document these sweeping claims--even if we restrict ourselves to "official" sources of information, including the IPCC reports themselves. The historical record does not justify panic, but instead should lead us to expect continued progress for humanity, so long as the normal operation of voluntary market interactions continues without significant political interference to sabotage it.