I Want a Better Catastrophe: Navigating the Climate Crisis with Grief, Hope, and Gallows Humor

 
　　講到環境汙染將導致氣候暖化、海平面上升，並最終威脅到人類的生存，大概可以聽到以下反應：
　　「是喔，好喔。」
　　「當然，世界末日可能真的會來，但應該跟我沒關係。」
　　「那我要開始瘋狂跑趴，假裝現在是2099！」
　　「我還有孩子，絕對不能就此放棄希望。」
　　而讓作者感同身受的務實派回答則是：「(如果災難仍就會來臨，)我想要一個好一點的災禍結局。」
 
　　全球平均氣溫上升，即將來到警戒線，長期關注環境議題的社會運動家安德魯．波依德，內心的焦慮感和失望節節攀升，我們是否終究無法扭轉失控的氣候，注定要迎來災難性的結局？他決定探訪相關領域的頂尖人士與一般民眾，看看其他人是如何面對這個危機，並試著轉換思考方式：如果人類終將為環境汙染付出難以想像的龐大代價，我們該如何與這樣的未來共存？
 
　　波依德將面對氣候變遷的焦慮分成五階段，根據各個階段，提出我們目前可以應對的方式，並嘗試釐清常見的兩難問題，例如：我們該繼續繁衍後代、讓孩子降生在這樣的地球上嗎？對於他人已經無法解決的現況，是否能乾脆不抱任何希望？到底我為什麼還要做資源回收？波依德對於如何在了解這世界不會更好的前提下，提供了充滿黑色幽默的人生建議(甚至還有幾張其實意外有用的流程圖表)。
 
　　他也採訪了相關研究領域中，八位抱持樂觀或悲觀態度的學者、社運份子，向他們發出許多人心中的疑問：如果災難真的無可避免，我們為什麼還要付出努力？這一切是為了什麼而戰？這些答案讓人驚訝、充滿啟發，甚至會讓你會心一笑。
 
　　面對難以想像真實後果的危機，這部作品將為所有因此感到焦慮、絕望的讀者，提供一些安慰及不同的思考方向。倘若一切終將發生，我們或許仍可以做出改變，迎向一個不一樣、不那麼糟糕的「災禍結局」。(文/博客來編譯)

An existential manual for tragic optimists, can-do pessimists, and compassionate doomers

WITH GLOBAL WARMING projected to rocket past the 1.5 C limit, lifelong activist Andrew Boyd is thrown into a crisis of hope, and off on a quest to learn how to live with the ＂impossible news＂ of our climate doom.

He searches out eight leading climate thinkers -- from collapse-psychologist Jamey Hecht to grassroots strategist adrienne maree brown, eco-philosopher Joanna Macy, and Indigenous botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer -- asking them: ＂Is it really the end of the world? and if so, now what?＂

With gallows humor and a broken heart, Boyd steers readers through their climate angst as he walks his own. From storm-battered coastlines to pipeline blockades and ＂hopelessness workshops,＂ he maps out our existential options, and tackles some familiar dilemmas: ＂Should I bring kids into such a world?＂ ＂Can I lose hope when others can’t afford to?＂ and ＂Why the fuck am I recycling?＂

He finds answers that will surprise, inspire, and maybe even make you laugh in this insightful and irreverent guide for achieving a ＂better catastrophe.＂

AWARDS

• BRONZE 2023 Living Now Book Awards: Social Activism / Charity

Andrew Boyd is a writer, humorist, activist, and CEO (Chief Existential Officer) of the Climate Clock, a global campaign that blends art, science, and grassroots organizing to get the world to #ActInTime on climate. He also co-created the grief-storytelling ritual the Climate Ribbon; founded the art-activist toolbox Beautiful Trouble, and led the 2000s-era satirical campaign Billionaires for Bush. Andrew’s previous books include Daily Afflictions: The Agony of Being Connected to Everything in the Universe and Life’s Little Deconstruction Book: Self-Help for the Post-Hip. His lifelong ambition, cribbed from Milan Kundera, is ＂to unite the utmost seriousness of question with the utmost lightness of form.＂ Andrew lives in New York City.