Perhaps he's the same as me. I have no long term hope, it has gradually faded over the last twenty years or so.

James Salinger is a climate scientist who used to work for NIWA, our National Institute for Water and Atmospheric research, who was sacked on government instigation for speaking out on climate change and "politicising' the debate. He has this year been awarded "New Zealander of the Year" - an award backed by Kiwibank, NZ owned bank.

He was interviewed on the radio the other day. He's a good man, and I was appalled by his treatment. However on the radio he stated more than once that "Small positive change" will bring about the changes we need to deal to global warming.

But to me, this sounds absurd. How can "small positive change" meet the urgency and the scale of this threat? So this is why I do despair, if a renowned climate scientist doesn't recognise the reality of our human situation, how can we convince the politicians, the business people, the shareholders or the general public of the this?

Similarly for Hedges, if he sees the unrelenting moral vacuum driving our human leadership around the planet, he has a right to be depressing but I'm already depressed, so it doesn't make a lot of difference to me. . Optimism is now tragically reserved for the unthinking. Sorry, Mark. I still live my life, but if I stop to think it really doesn't seem that important any longer.