We're going to be the first species to go extinct due to stupidity. A dude the other day told me that the guy who invented the weather channel says that global warming is due to Earth's orbit not being a perfect circle. I don't know how to combat that level of stupid.
Talk like that invites complacency. There have always been and will always be stupid people, perhaps a little more than usual right now on account of the leaded fuel thing a while ago. But the true reason behind global warming isn't because of stupidity, but because of individuals who find it more important to make money rather than keeping the environment safe. Those same individuals who lobby and bribe to keep laws and taxes off of them.
If humans can save pandas from extinction we can damn well save ourselves. Easier said than done, I know, but we're actually making a lot of progress on managing climate change behind the scenes. None of it draws the same attention as a headline like "the world is literally on fire and we're all going to die" but that doesn't mean that progress isn't happening.
We saved pandas from extinction just because they’re ridiculously cute. Other animals aren’t faring as well, and the problem is most people who could do something to stop climate change look at the Earth and see profits.
We’re going to be the first species to go extinct due to stupidity.
Because we act global. The mechanism isn't new at all, though. We as a species are just as stupid as yeast: Watch a slice of bread mould. It starts with a tiny dot, within a day or two the whole slice is green and the bread already unrecognisable, after a couple of days the yeast will die because there isn't any bread any more.
People think we're smarter than dolphins because we invented skyscrapers, digital watches, and war, while all the dolphins ever do is goof off in the oceans having fun. Dolphins know they're smarter for the same reasons.