Why I have hope for the climate-change battles to come

ONE OF THE IMPORTANT MILESTONES in the struggle to build awareness of the climate crisis in the U.S. was the publication 30 years ago by TIME of its historic “Planet of the Year” issue, focusing the nation’s attention on our “Endangered Earth.” Prior to its decision to creatively adapt its Person of the Year brand to help mobilize public opinion in response to the unprecedented threat to the future of humanity, TIME organized a 1988 conference of climate experts and policymakers to review the rapidly accumulating evidence confirming the warnings of scientists years earlier. All who attended felt it was the most impressive conference yet held to explore what many realized for the first time was an existential crisis.

In the measurements in the atmosphere.